


my heart’s aflame, my body’s strained (but god i like it)

by raindropwaltz



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alpha Armitage Hux, Alpha Kylo Ren, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Omega Rey, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Werewolves, abo is just werewolves without the fur, author ended up liking wolfman hux way more than intended, so let's bring some of that back into it, some shameless reylux nonsense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 09:06:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14973809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raindropwaltz/pseuds/raindropwaltz
Summary: two alphas constantly on the verge of tearing each other apart. an omega girl trying her damndest to just have a life.this biology shit is really, really starting to get on her nerves.





	1. bet we wouldn't get too far

“God damn it--god _damn_ it--” The car wasn’t fucking starting and she could smell them getting closer, knew she’d be fucked if she couldn’t get this motor running--in the _literal_ sense, too, which was not something she even wanted to think about.

 “Fucking _start_ ,” she pleaded with the car, trying the wires again, pressing on the gas, and praying, “Please, god, fuck, please _please_ start--”

 “ _HEY!_ ” Her blood ran cold and she slammed her foot onto the gas pedal, but nothing--and then she was torn back out of the car she’d broken into.

 

Rey was seventeen and scrawny, rail thin and gangly with dark brown hair knotted at the back of her head, and right now much lighter than the two young alphas that had her by the arms, holding her against the back door on the driver’s side of the car, a large hand pressing her face to the window while another tore at her shorts as she struggled against them.

“Like some little omega bitch could outrun us--”  
“We’re both alphas, you dumb twat, you should have just made this easier on yourself…” But Rey was snarling and starting to shift in her angry panic, her teeth elongating and skin going a bit more furry than usual. She bit one of the boys on the forearm, getting a mouthful of sweat and blood and alpha musk, and was rewarded with a punch to her side that made her cough and kick at her assailants.

“What the _fuck_ do you little shits think you’re doing?”

 

The hold on her shoulders didn’t lighten, but the boys turned to face the new bystander.

“Mind your business!” One of them barked, and Rey, unable to see who’d walked up, was starting to panic even more, thrashing against the boys’ hold on her. She couldn’t see him, but god damn, she could _smell_ him: _Another alpha, another alpha, oh fuck, oh god not another one--_

“Get the fuck off my car,” came a low, furious snarl, “And get the _fuck_ out of here, or I swear to fucking god you’ll wish I had just called the cops.” Rey felt the two boys go still, loosening their grips on her enough that she could wrench herself free, wiggling out of their reach as they decided their best bet was to run off themselves. She tried gathering her clothes together at the front to keep them on as she lunged away from the battered sedan--

\--Only to be grabbed by her upper arm by a very large and very firm hand.

She shrieked and thrashed again, kicking against the larger, older alpha, feeling her shorts slipping down her thighs and her shirt rucking up as she tried to keep herself covered.

“Let go! Let go of me you fucking asshole!” She finally swiped at the bigger male, claws catching the sleeve of his t-shirt near the shoulder and ripping a hole in the grey cotton. He gave her a rough shake, leaning in close to her face.

“Shut the fuck up! You want me to let them come back here? Pretty sure I know what they were about to do, you little idiot!” He was furious, glaring at her with wolfed-out dark brown eyes under a curtain of black hair. Rey’s face went red and she tried pulling free of his grasp again.

“Don’t--don’t you fucking talk to me like that--”

“Oh _shut up_ \--and cut the shifting, we’re in public. You wanna fuckin’ get caught?” He gave her a little shove, letting her go finally and turning to his car again. “Jeeeesus christ, did you bust my fuckin’ window..?”

 

Rey was shrinking back some, trying to pull her clothes back into place but there was a rip in the side of her jean shorts that was making that harder than it needed to be.

“I-I’m sorry, okay, I’ll--I’ll fix it, I’ll fix the window and the wires, I--” He was leaning into the car now, noticing her handiwork with the steering column wiring.

“What the fuck, you were gonna _steal_ my car--”

“I just wanted to get away from them!” she shouted, fear choking her up again in spite of herself, and he stood up outside the car again to look at her.

 

He was tall--had to be at least six-foot-three if not more. Broad-shouldered and broad-chested, weirdly lean for someone that looked so, well, _big_. Rey swallowed a little, feeling the gross heat-urges starting up in her. _A big broad alpha, could protect you from others like those two--_ but she tried to stave all of that off as best she could.

“Fuckin’ hotwiring my goddamn car--” he muttered angrily, raking a large hand through short, thick dark hair that just fell back into his face. “Now I won’t even be able to start it. I’m calling a tow…” He was fishing his cell phone out and Rey wiped at her face a little, not meeting his eyes.

“If you--if you get them to take it to Niima Junk then I can...I can get it fixed for free.” She mumbled, swallowing again and feeling her face flush now from embarrassment, but also from the heat she knew was coming in the next few hours.

He stared at her, brow shooting up as he realized what was going on.

“You’re really about to hit--are you fuckin’ kidding me..” He took a step towards her and Rey backed up.

“Listen just--just get it towed there and I’ll take care of it, okay!” The male alpha’s brow knit.

“How old are you?”

“What the hell does that matter?!”

“This isn’t your first heat, is it?” He sounded considerably...gentler, now, and it made her skin prickle in a way that scared her some.

“N-no--just--leave me alone! That’s none of your business!” He took another step towards her.

“You’re not even on suppressants. Where the hell is your family?”

“J-just leave me alone, fuck off--” she turned to run, at this point, but he was faster, grabbing her very carefully above the glands on her arm. When she looked up at his face his eyes were staring into hers, and she got a good whiff of him now that he was so close. It made her mouth go dry.

“You need to get home. You’re gonna have alphas all over the fuckin’ city after you like this.”

“I’m--I’m not--” she looked down, blush going darker red on her freckled cheeks. “Can’t go home.” She grit out, starting to feel the sweat breaking out on her skin. He just watched her for a long moment, breathing a little harder himself.

“...I’m calling you a cab. You _swear_ you can get this fixed?” He gestured at the car, eyes narrowing at her. Rey nodded hurriedly.

“I promise. I promise--I--soon as this is over I swear I’ll have it done in less than a day--”

“ _You_?”

“I promise! I swear!”

 

Another beat of quiet.

 

“I’ll pay for the cab. Just get the fuck outta here smelling like that. Why the fuck aren’t you on suppressants? Even a fuckin’ _human_ could smell you like this…”

“Don’t have the cash. No insurance.” She admitted grudgingly. He let go of her arm, punching in some numbers on his phone.

Rey stood back a little, rubbing her arm and feeling tremors start running through her. Fuck she was cutting this close. If it were any later….

 

Her eyes wandered to the tall alpha on the phone with a cab company. He had to be at least in his twenties. Didn’t smell mated, would have done in a pinch if she hit too hard and didn’t find somewhere to hole up…

“I know the dispatcher. They’re sending a human driver. You better get in one of those shelters.” He growled at her. Rey nodded again, looking down.

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna get the car towed tonight. You better not be fucking with me, kid.” She frowned up at him.

“I’m not a kid. I’m seventeen.” He raked a hand through his hair and she saw his pupils were dilated and now, now he was trying not to look at her.

“A kid. _Too_ fuckin' young…” He muttered, and she had a feeling it was more to himself than to her.

“...Thank you.” she offered, watching him warily even if there was gratitude in her tone. He managed a jerking nod.

“Just...just get inside somewhere.”

“My name’s Rey.” She didn’t know why she offered it up so easily. Maybe it was hormones. Seventeen years of absolute bullshit that had recently culminated in the 'big reveal' that she was a god damn fucking _omega._ Fucking hormones...she could blame everything on them. He glanced at her, nodding briefly.

“Kylo Ren.”

Rey snorted, catching sight of a cab pulling up.

“That’s a weird fucking name.” He shot her a glare.

“Fuck off.”

 

Rey swung into the backseat of the cab and felt her breath coming a bit shorter. He was right about getting to a shelter. The one on 15th had let her stay more than once now, was about a twenty minute drive from here, but if it was a human driving...she’d make it.

Kylo tapped the window, giving her a look as the car started to pull away from him.

“You dumb fucking _kid_!” he called, and Rey turned to kneel on the backseat, bracing her hands on the window and the headrest of the seat, leaning up on her knees and looking out the back windshield to watch him quirk a weird little lopsided grin and then fall out of sight behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have so many other things i should be working on, and here we are.


	2. 'fore the transformation takes

**MISSING PERSON**

**KIRA PLUTT**

**August 15, 2012** **  
** **Clark County, Nevada**

  
  


_ [Two images of a young girl. Her skin is tan and freckled. She smiles, but in neither image does it seem genuine. Her face looks almost too-thin. The images are clearly not professional, but she faces the camera head-on.] _

 

The Clark County Sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s assistance in locating Kira Plutt missing from Primm City in Clark County, Nevada, since August 15th, 2012.

 

At the time of her disappearance, Kira was 17.

 

Kira was last seen the morning of August 18th, leaving an apartment complex on 15th Street, Las Vegas, Nevada alone, before departing the city on a public transit bus bound for Death Valley.

 

Kira may have left the state and be living in southern California, or northern Arizona.

 

Kira is described as a white female, with hazel eyes and brown hair. At the time of her disappearance, she was approximately 5’4’’ tall and weighed approximately 90 lbs. Kira was born March 3rd, 1995, in Westminster, in the United Kingdom.

 

A suspect has been brought into custody, but Kira’s whereabouts remain unknown.


	3. got a curse we cannot lift

The north west coast was frigid this time of year--snow stopped traffic and kept lesser creatures indoors. Humans. Betas. Any of their kind that used the bane pills and hid from the moon; what was snow to any of them during a full moon?

 

It was a night like this when they’d been sent out after one of their own.

Well, he supposed, not really one of _‘theirs’_ , but one of their _kind_. A mechanic that had been helping mod vehicles and providing safe haven for their rivals. He didn’t know them personally, just knew he would be overseeing Ren on this job. One of their scouts had been tracking the target for weeks, and then the night after the full moon the small hunting party had shifted and waited for their signal to run down their prey.

 

They’d come to a sea of trees, ground blanketed in snow already though the wind was promising even more that night. Two huge and hulking wolf-beasts stood in the silence, one ruddy and red, the other a monster so black in the dark it looked like moving shadow.

“Take care of this quickly. There’s a storm coming.” A strangely human voice, quiet and low, accented with cold english.

“Don’t care.” Low, and deep, and uncaring.

“ _I_ care, Ren. Don’t drag this out.”

“Then go hide inside with the betas,” the snort was derisive, the black beast tossing his head and pawing the ground.

This received no reply, just an irritated look and a brief swivel of ears. Quiet fell again, wind picking up around the two creatures, ruffling thick fur and making the larger, Ren, perk his ears high and sniff at the air.

 

Hux hated dealing with the other male. Another alpha, three years younger than him and much larger, but far too headstrong and impulsive--and violent.  
He supposed he couldn’t fault Ren for the last. Some of them were simply better at controlling it.

Finally, noise.

A whuffing sound some yards away had them both going at attention. A pause, and then a low, rolling whine. Ren took off.

 

A trail of snow flew up in his path, and Hux groaned to himself, but lurched after.  
He had to admit, he did enjoy these outings when they were tracking someone, something. He fanned out slightly, racing through the shadowy wood with Ren, eyes open for a sign of anything they might be after. And then--

He skidded to a stop near the edge of a shelf of rock, spotting movement in the valley below. Lowering himself, Hux scanned and found what he was after: a wolf, nearly the same color as the snow, hurrying through the trees. Clearly it knew it was being tracked, the gait and the quick flicking of its’ ears suggested it was being careful where it ran, and it was steadily making its way closer to where he was, high above it. He looked up, scanning for Ren, and was not disappointed.

 

Snow had started to fall. It was getting harder to see Ren trailing the white wolf, but then, practically right below him, the white wolf stopped.

Hux’s ears swung forward and he kept low, watching the pale beast scan the trees. Ren lurked just beyond the small clearing below, he could smell him, and it was just as the air went still and silent that Hux realized something, sniffing quietly and staring down at their target.

The white wolf they’d come out here after was female.

More than that: _she_ was an _omega_.

 

He’d stood up when the realization dawned, and simultaneously Ren had burst through the trees and brush in a spray of white and black, knocking the female backwards towards the rock wall Hux stood atop. She let out a surprised bark, but was on her feet again in a moment.

Ren clearly hadn’t expected this. He stood facing her, hot breath turning the snowy air around his head to smoke. The female faced him head-on, much smaller than he was even while shifted, and let out an angry snarl, her tail straight in the air, her hair up. Hux watched with interest--an omega posturing like an alpha, what was she thinking?--but Ren seemed to fall back slightly.

Hux’s pale eyes narrowed, watching. The female was nothing particularly remarkable; pale fur with some sort of gold coloration over her. She was small, slim. An attractive little thing, but that couldn’t have been what was stopping Ren.

On the forest floor, white and black faced each other in the falling snow. Kylo Ren’s head lowered slightly and cocked to the side, regarding the smaller female with slightly narrowed eyes. She kept her gaze on him, teeth bared, low growl continuing to issue out of her open maw. She was daring him to come at her, and he was surprised by how bold and how dominant she was trying to present. Plucky bitch...no wonder she’d caught the Order’s attention.

 

Finally, the standoff seemed to be too much, and the omega girl lunged forward, leaping at him and snapping her teeth. Kylo had to swing to the side to dodge her, snapping at her head and swiping at her with one great black paw, but she just skidded back a foot or two and then rushed him again. They tumbled into the snow together, claws and teeth, catching each other enough to tear out whimpers and cries and stain fur with blood until Kylo got her pinned, though that was short lived.

His paw found her throat and she thrashed wildly, white teeth and wild golden eyes, but it was the sudden shriek that made him ease back slightly.

“ _Get the fuck off me!_ ” A female voice, _her_ voice, and holy fuck, _he knew her voice._

“ _You_ \--” It was something far away but it was coming back to him, a memory from years ago, a summer day in Vegas, a girl, an overpowering scent…

His momentary shock gave the omega the opening she needed, and the second he eased his weight off of her even slightly, she surged forward and wrenched her body free, just enough to snap jaws near his snout and swipe as hard as she could at his face.

 

She struck hard and blood sprayed the snow, Kylo Ren rearing back with a howl, shaking his shaggy head and snorting furiously, more blood spattering around him as he shook. She’d nearly taken his eye but there was blood everywhere, clouding his vision and making him see red as she sprinted back into the trees, pausing only a split-second to look back at him in the snow, her golden eyes wild and panicked before she raced away into the woods and the oncoming snowstorm.

 _He knew her_.

 

Kylo was swiping at his face and snorting, pain shooting through his neck and shoulder, blood starting to mat his black fur. Hux leapt down to the bloody snow a moment later, stunned by what had just happened.

_The omega bitch had gotten away._

An omega, a _female omega_ , had torn Kylo Ren’s head open and gotten away.

Hux could smell her blood, her scent, only briefly before the snow and wind swept it away. He turned to Ren and watched him glaring at the trees the direction she’d run, but curiously he didn’t follow.

 

“If she’s smart she’ll _run_.” A livid, guttural snarl. Hux eyed Ren for a long moment.

“You’d better hope she does.”

 

Why he was silently agreeing to keep this silent, he didn’t know. If old Snoke found out the girl had gotten away, Ren would be reprimanded and possibly out of his way for good.

Likewise, however, there would only be more of them sent after the girl, and the month’s moon was over now, which meant things would just be drawn out even longer.

Perhaps it was pity. A female omega being hunted...maybe it was simply biology that was getting the better of him.

 

 

Ren was right.

If she was smart, she’d run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [come yell at me on twitter](https://twitter.com/binarysvnrise)


	4. gonna bust that box, gonna gut that fish

_[A newspaper clipping from the Washington Post. Part of the headline is intact, showing half of the word ‘Washington’ and the date, September 2, 2012. Beside a column of text is a professional photo of a young man with curling dark hair and dark eyes, the collar of a button-down shirt in navy blue under a black blazer showing.]_

 

 

“Benjamin Solo, son of Indiana Sen. Leia Organa and her husband Han Solo, has been pronounced dead as of this morning, at 11:15AM.

Benjamin, called ‘Ben’, was a recent Ivy League History graduate. He was 26 years old.

 

Solo was taken into custody in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 19, 2012, under suspicion that he was involved in the disappearance of Kira Plutt just five days prior. Reports say he claimed to have had no involvement, but was detained in the Clark County Jail.

 

According to the official release statement from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, a violent riot broke out within the jail on the night of August 31st, which resulted in the deaths of three inmates and the injury of four others. Solo was reportedly among those injured. The official report is that Solo was taken to a nearby medical center and two days later succumbed to his injuries.

 

His mother has yet to release a statement. Reportedly, son and parents were estranged in recent years, but according to her office she is ‘devastated by the loss of her only child’. We have been informed that at the time, Sen. Organa is unable to release her own statement regarding the tragedy.”


	5. i know it's strange

The Tuesday following June’s full moon, she seemed to just appear out of nowhere.

 

Armitage Hux was waiting outside the county jail that warm morning, still in blazer and button-down despite the heat, dark sunglasses in place and cigarette held lazily as he leant against the stone wall of the steps leading from the jail to the sidewalk alone.

This was not the first time he was having to wait for Ren to be let out, and it wouldn’t be the last. The only reason he even suffered this now was at command of Snoke, who had sent him after Ren just a matter of months after the other alpha had gone east. Not to bring him back, no, just to keep an eye on him.

That was, possibly, even more fucking irritating than having to bring him back.

 

He’d kept his job, just set up shop on the northeast coast. Ren was working in construction now, but he’d been hauled in by the police so much the entire town knew him.  
Not that that was really much to worry over. The town was all betas and humans; the only other alphas here were older and mated, and Hux hadn’t caught scent of a single omega since he’d come here. He and Ren were the youngest alphas, and by far the most feared in the area. Even here, people knew Kylo Ren’s reputation and Hux’s name. The First Order controlled most of the North American shifter population now, one way or another. The betas in town tried their best to avoid them.

 

But that morning was different. As Hux waited for Ren, something seemed different. He was catching snippets of conversations from people passing, too, and while most were of fairly standard morning commute talk, others were decidedly not.

_“Did you hear?”_

_“She’s working at Maz’s place…”_

_“Ugh, an **omega**!” _

_“I bet everyone can smell her already…”_

Hux took a long drag off his cigarette and cast it to the steps, snubbing it out with his heel. Ren was tugging a t-shirt into place as he came practically prancing down the stairs, shaking his hair out.

“What’s the face for?” He kept descending the stairs, Hux falling into step next to him as he passed.

“For one, I’m tired of having to be the proxy bail to get your pathetic ass out of jail every week.”

“It’s not every week--besides, this time was bullshit and you know it was. Bail can’t have even been that much.”

“There’s also the fact that apparently the town’s population has gone up by one.” Kylo raised a thick eyebrow at him, making a face.

“The fuck does that matter?” Hux only took a breath, shrugging lightly.

“Maybe not at all.” There was a moment of quiet in which Kylo ran a large hand through his near-shoulder-length hair, and Hux’s lips tightened, lip curling slightly, “You should cut that hair.”

Ren had gone on to the job he was currently working, and Hux had decided he was in the mood for coffee.

This was, he told himself, a case of curiosity. Nothing more. A female omega that had the town talking--that was worth a quick look. If she was registered then he may have even seen her face before. Omegas were harder to come by, these days, and females even more so; for whatever reason their population had been dwindling in the west for years now.

He stopped himself from lighting another cigarette as he neared the coffeeshop he knew she’d be at, ‘Maz’s place’, which was the only café in town run by anyone named Maz, and though he wasn’t on the best of terms with Maz herself, a quick stop for coffee wasn’t going to start a war.

He could smell her the moment the door swung open for a few teenagers entering the place ahead of him.

At once, his skin prickled. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and pushed through the strange wave of scent and hormones and instinct to get into the café.  
He could pick her out as soon as he walked inside. She was standing at the bar with the teenagers he’d come in behind, smiling and cheerful until the smell of shifter hit her nose, and he saw her eyes widen and her slim body go still. With sudden stiffness she finished the teens’ orders, and then she was faced with him, new customer, _alpha_.

Hux watched her lips tighten to a line and saw her fingers flex on the counter. She was trying hard to keep her composure here, but he knew her smell. It was only a faint taste of it he’d gotten that night, but he’d remember that scent even if it had been fifty years instead of only three.

“A regular coffee. Black.” He watched the slender girl down the bridge of his nose, eyes roaming over what he could see of her.

She was a head shorter than him, slim, but with a strange solidity to her figure. She had oak brown hair that was taking on a golden tint from the sun, he suspected, and currently it was tied back in a haphazard knot near the top of her head, loose curls framing her face. Her skin was tanned and freckled, scarred faintly here and there, and he could see there was muscle definition on her biceps that suggested she was not a stranger to physical work. Her face was just as freckled, with a sharp jawline and a pointed nose over soft, naturally smiling lips--even if at the moment they were pressed in a thin line as she looked up at him. She had a thin brow over pretty, almond-shaped hazel eyes; eyes that shifted slightly in recognition and _ah...there it was, yes_...the gold from the forest that night.

After a moment, she moved to punch his order into the computer at the counter, and he saw her throat contract slightly as she swallowed, averting her eyes.

“It’ll be two fifty, please.” an accent. Hux watched her as he fished a card out of his wallet, handing it over and leaving his hand extended as she took it and mumbled a _thankyou_ under her breath, careful not to look up at him still even as she returned his card.

He didn’t bother with smalltalk, content to watch her moving behind the counter in her green jean shorts and t-shirt, which he could see was patterned with lemons when she turned around and her café apron wasn’t covering. She looked somewhat young...it made him wonder how old she really was.

Luckily there was no one else in line or standing at the counter with him--not that he would particularly care if there were--but it did allow him to get a better look at the girl without anyone bothering him or distracting her.  
She didn’t look typically omega, didn’t look shy and small and submissive. She had long legs and slim hips, and looked athletic; he wondered what it might be like to watch her run.  
She returned to the counter and slid his coffee across to him, avoiding any contact with him this time.

“There you are,” she sounded about as cheerful as he imagined she could muster, “Have a nice day, sir.”

“I believe I will,” he gave her face a last, lingering glance, “Thank you.”

The look on her face as he was turning suggested she hadn’t expected him to leave this easily. Hux’s lips curved up as he took a small sip of his coffee, exiting the shop again.

Hm. It actually was good.

 

That night on his way home, he was passing the café again. Thankfully Ren hadn’t called (nor had the authorities), and although the night was young he was choosing to take it as a good sign.

By now, his blazer was over his arm and his shirtsleeves were carefully rolled to his elbows, a cigarette between his lips as he made his way down the sidewalk in the post-dusk darkness. The street lamps were already glowing overhead and casting shadows over the sidewalk, and the smoke swirling around his head wasn’t enough to block out that scent as he passed the café-- _omega._ His eyes flicked forward when he caught it, glancing about for the source under his brow, head still facing down towards his phone.

She was leaving work, he assumed; her apron was gone, there was a leather backpack slung over one of her shoulders. Her hair was more loose from its knot now, and she reeked of coffee, but the scent was still there, underlying the coffee beans and cleaning product, and as he headed towards her on the sidewalk, he saw her stop under one of the street lamps like a deer in the headlights, staring at him.  
She looked ready to run as he lifted his head to meet her gaze, slowing his gait until he stopped entirely a yard or two away from her.

“You.” She sounded hesitant, cautious. Accusing, if he wanted to reach a bit. His expression was carefully blank as he watched her.

“Me.” He, on the other hand, nearly sounded amused. The girl eyed him warily, hefting her backpack.

“You want something?”

“Nothing comes to mind, no.” He took another drag of his cigarette before shifting his blazer slightly, his eyes on her all the while.

 

She watched the man for a quiet moment, chin tipping up just slightly as she silently sniffed the air. He was most definitely alpha, but there was no...no _hormone_ smell. She knew it well enough by now, knew how to scent it on alphas and even betas, sometimes, but there was nothing from him. It made her pause, made her wonder. He'd been polite and brief that morning, and she hadn't sensed anything then, either. Now, they were outside--nothing between them, no barrier to stand in his way, and he just...looked at her.

In the streetlight, his ginger hair was turned almost gold. He was pale, very pale, with a smoothness to his face that was strange, and statuesque. His mouth looked soft, but looked as if it never smiled--and his eyes were pale, downturned, and piercing...but sad.

He looked fresh from office work, and after a very pregnant pause, she took a deep breath through her nose, nodding some and looking away.

“Have a good night, then.” She stepped off the sidewalk to cross the empty street, leaving the soft glow of the streetlamp and fading into the dark as she left.

Hux watched her go, cigarette lifting to his mouth again. Something about her face was familiar, now that he’d had a better look at her. He knew her smell, would know her if he saw her shifted, but her face…

He decided to poke around the database when he got to his apartment. The trips to and from the office he was currently working out of were of his own volition--he had a car, but chose to walk. The exercise was calming; he wasn't constantly physically at work all day like Ren was, and while he was much better at reining in his 'baser instincts' that wasn't to say he shunned them completely. The urges were still there, he just...exercised them in different ways, and waited for the moon.  
The walks were how he centered himself, let out a bit of energy, got a bit of exercise. They gave him time to think, time to be out in the open air and focus.

He took the long way to his apartment tonight, letting cigarette smoke and the night air flush out the smell of the girl.

 

In the dark of his apartment, he only bothered with a small tableside lamp. The apartment of Armitage Hux was in the most upscale building the town offered, and he'd gone out of his way to effect a very urban 'sleek and modern' appearance for the interior. Black furniture, minimal decoration, chrome fixtures. Black marble floors.

He loosened his tie and settled on his sofa with his tablet and a glass of whiskey, in the end. He didn’t have much to go on--the registry for their kind was kept under heavy lock and key and the First Order had gained access to it, but that didn’t mean he could just magically find someone. There were thousands of them in North America alone--and that was only the shifters that were registered.

It was for safety; not the public’s, but their own. The government hadn’t caught on to all of it yet but they had their own means of networking and keeping track of their kind. The First Order was helping see to that.

He’d plugged in the search terms he could. Female. Omega. Tried entering birth years that may have fit her.  
There were hundreds of entries. He didn’t know how old she was, didn’t know her name, even. Just that she was young. Just that she’d been the one they’d been sent to kill in the snowy forest of northern Oregon for aiding Leia Organa, and that she’d gotten away. That she was foreign but had been living here long enough to be on their registry. That she was omega. That he’d remembered her scent for three years now, and it was better than he could recall.

That thought made him shut down his search for the night, practically throwing his tablet aside and abruptly removing himself from the sofa.

 

His thoughts were on the girl even in the scalding shower he'd run. Something about her face, about her eyes, he knew it, recognized it. He knew her smell--it had been bathed in blood before, but he knew it: the softness of an omega scent, mixed with something like fresh dirt, grass, and what he could only describe as sunshine. She smelled like summer, and he'd caught it again that day, standing over her in the coffeeshop. She smelled like summer.

He thought of her hazel eyes shifting gold, teasing at something green even when they glowed, thought of the tousled curls around her freckled face. What would she smell like up close--would he smell grass on her skin, whatever soap she used, the salt of sweat...

In the steam-clouds of his shower, Hux braced against the wall and ran a hand over his face, his jaw setting.  
This...whatever this was...was nothing he wanted to be part of. It was biology: an alpha scenting out an omega. He hadn't been so near to one in a good while, that had to be what was making this all seem so...so god damn _amplified_. She was just a girl that had managed to get lucky once, and now she was in the same town, had no idea who he was, and no idea that he knew who _she_ was. He'd always been the best among them at keeping himself in control. This, this sort of _primal_ instinct, was not going to be what got the better of him.

 

In the morning, he woke with a craving for coffee on his tongue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [a playlist.](https://open.spotify.com/user/21zhs276mx2wdve4bsxbpxteq/playlist/5TZklggGK1r7NUORDLWQEy?si=d_D4MTzCRQaZ_ddfzRvtsw)


	6. babydoll, i recognize

Kylo Ren was a well-known face, by now.

 

People in the rural northeastern town knew him by reputation, sure, but the figure he cut simply due to his looks...left quite the impression.

This morning, he was stopping for coffee, easily parting a small crowd of betas gathered near the front doors. They shuffled aside for him with sidelong glances, voices going hushed as he passed without a second glance.  
They were always like this. Fuckin’ betas.

But this morning...he’d heard talk, when he bothered paying attention on the jobsite he was currently working. It was just outside town limits, fairly detached from any kind of traffic, car or foot, so the other workers were the only sources of gossip--and they could be just as bad as humans, jesus--but something had piqued his interest.

_ “You seen her yet?” _

_ “Yeah--saw her yesterday when I got coffee, smells just like they say…” _

_ “Unmarked, too, you see that?” _

_ “Little piece like her’s gonna get snapped up fast. Wonder what she’s doin’ all the way out here…” _

_ “My girl’s chomping the air about it. Won’t stop whinin’ about her smell--” _

_ “Mine too! Got real pissy when she found out I went to Maz’s, said she could smell her on me--made me shower before she’d even touch me!” _

 

And it went on, more gossip about the smell, about waiting for the moon, about females being irate about Maz Kanata’s new employee…  
Hux’s words came to mind as Kylo hefted wood beams and continued his work, just about half-present for all of it.

_ “...Apparently the town’s population has gone up by one…” _

Which meant either the ginger had already gone to sniff her out, or would soon. 

  
  


They were right, he thought to himself, stunned by how quickly he picked up the scent once he reached the café--but something…something was familiar about it.  
Kylo’s brow knit as he stepped through the doors, raking a hand through his hair, and all at once, three things happened:

 

First: he met eyes with the girl working behind the front counter.

Second: a shared moment of shock and abrupt gasping took place between them both.

Third: without a moment’s notice, she turned and bolted for the back.

 

He spun on his heel and nearly broke the front door swinging it open to sprint for the back of the café. The same betas he’d brushed past earlier scattered, staring as Kylo Ren took off past them, practically shifting on his feet with how quickly he was moving.

He managed to head her off behind the building, in the employee parking lot in the back, just missing her forearm when he swiped at her.  
She was quick, smaller than him, and ducked under his reach, but he lunged forward and shoved her back against the side of a pickup truck parked nearby, bellowing at her furiously,

 

“ _ KIRA!” _

 

Her eyes were wide, shifted, and wild, glowing gold and green up at him as she  _ reeked _ of panic--but--

 

_ Holy fucking  _ **_shit_ ** _. _

 

Both of them stared, stunned, and Kylo Ren took a stumbling step back from her.

“What-- _ no _ \--there’s no  _ fucking  _ way--” The girl was trembling, fingers shifting to dig claws into the truck’s exterior.

“Y-you--I-- _ how _ \--”

He was on her in the blink of an eye, huge hands bearing down on her shoulders as he towered over her, dark eyes burning an almost red shade of brown, teeth bared and already elongated.

“You’re fuckin’  _ kidding _ me--it was  _ you _ \--it was  _ you _ that night--”

“Get off me--get  _ off _ me--I swear to fuck I’ll--”

“You’ll  _ what _ ? You’ll give me  _ another _ scar?” He leaned dangerously close to her face, both drawn in and infuriated by the fucking smell of her. Her eyes were fixed on his face, wide as they trailed over the line of reddened, torn skin that marked him from brow to neck, disappearing beneath the collar of his blue t-shirt. 

“Go on, get a good fuckin’ look--you did a real good job on me,  _ Kira-- _ ”  She snarled at him, eyes flashing, teeth snapping the air now.

“ _ Don’t fucking call me that! _ ”

“Why not?” He countered, hands pressing harder on her shoulders, “It’s your name, isn’t it?” She looked confused, struggling against his grasp some.

“How--how the fuck do you know that?!”

“What the fuck do you think happened when you pulled your disappearing act? You know what happens when a teenager goes fucking missing? The cops haul in anybody suspicious that anybody saw even  _ look _ at them before they flew the fuckin’ coop!” His voice was venomous, a low growl through nearly clenched teeth. She went a bit limp under his hands now, however.

“I-I...I didn’t know…” He snarled at her, still angry.

“Thanks to you, I got dragged in and locked up--and not in one of our jails, either.” No, he’d been penned up in a human jail, awaiting a proper hearing, and when the full moon had hit… “There was a lot of cleanup that had to happen because you decided you wanted to fuck off to god fuckin’ knows where, you know that?” He hissed, “A whole  _ fuckin _ ’ lot.”

 

She looked pale, swallowing hard and shaking her head. He smelled fear on her, now, but it was making her omega hormones kick into gear and so the fear was mixing with submission, and it was starting to make his thoughts trail elsewhere. He forced himself to push away from her after a moment, snorting hard and shaking his head, as if to clear a haze away.

“Cut that shit out--stop being so fuckin’ scared--”

“I-I’m not!” She rubbed her shoulders, nearly hunching forward as if to make herself look smaller. He glared at her.

“Like fuck you’re not. You fuckin’  _ reek  _ of it--goddamn omega bullshit…” She went red in the face and looked at the ground angrily. He stared at her, breathing hard and flexing his fingers, feeling the anger in him building up and fueling more  _ primal  _ urges.

“So where the fuck did you go, huh? Got mixed up with the fuckin’ Resistance--”

“I didn’t--I didn’t know about any of that!” She barked, “They--I--”

 

Both of them went still, suddenly, and Kylo’s head snapped up to glance towards the sidealley of the café. His eyes narrowed--the betas were getting nosy and if they started swarming, humans would follow.

Lunging forward before she could protest or run again, he grabbed Kira by the arm and started dragging her along out of the parking lot with him.

“Come on.”

“Hey! Let go! I’m not going anywhere!” she hissed, thankfully keeping her voice down for the time being but there was a lift at the end that suggested she wasn’t above getting louder. The only thing that was preventing it, if she was honest, was the instinctual need she was feeling to  _ submit to your alpha _ \--but he wasn’t  _ her _ alpha and she was gritting her teeth and struggling against his strong hold on her anyways.

Fuck, he really was big.

 

“You and I are gonna have a long fuckin’ overdue chat, _Kira._ ” His tone didn’t leave room for argument. She forced it anyways.

“I still have a shift to work!” She protested, but she was slowly just giving in, walking with him now even if it was hard to keep up with his pace. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk when she said this, however, and pulled her up closer to his face as he leaned down to hers.

“You  _ owe _ me,” He growled, “Way fuckin’ more than just a conversation, but I’m feeling  _ generous. _ ” He was feeling a few other things at the moment, too, but was choosing to ignore more than one of them. She took a few quick breaths and he knew her heart was pounding.

“I--I still have to call my manager.” She looked away lamely. He rolled his eyes, relaxing his hold and standing straight again, starting to walk again.

“Oh for fuck’s sake…” She tugged at his hold.

“Listen! I need this job, okay? Let me fucking call!” He squinted at her.

“I let you go, and you run? You’re in a world of fucking trouble.” She glared at him.

“This is where I say I’ll give you another fucking scar, you fucking asshole. Let go.”

 

He did, slowly, eyeing her suspiciously the entire time. She didn’t run, just yanked her arm back and dug in her apron pocket for her cell phone as a few people passing them on the sidewalk gave them wary glances, but ultimately kept walking.

She considered running. She really did.   
Something in her made her stay.

  
  


They wound up in a public park, in the end. Distancing themselves from the playground that was sparsely occupied, the two of them ignored the group of mothers that were staring at them as they passed, and stopped when they reached the empty baseball field on the other side of the place.

“So.” Kylo leaned against the fence around the baseball diamond, folding arms thick with muscle over his broad chest, watching Kira perch on the metal bleachers nearby. “Where’d you fuck off to in such a hurry, Kira?” she shot him an angry, cold look.

“That’s not my fucking name.” His brow raised and he made a flippant gesture.

“Whatever the fuck you wanna go by--that’s what your posters said. That’s who I got hauled in for--’Kira Plutt’.” He’d remember that name until he died, he’d sworn that to himself. Now that he was faced with her again, though, he was remembering the scared, skinny, seventeen year old girl from that day in August.

“My name is Rey,” She snapped, her voice hard and angry. “I didn’t lie to you,  _ Kylo Ren _ .” He stared her down, but she didn’t falter even slightly. Finally, he exhaled through his nose.

“Then who the fuck is ‘Kira’? Your fuckin’ twin?” She swallowed hard, turned to look away from him, and he saw something on her face that made him pause.  
  


She was older now. She’d been a  _ child _ when he’d met her that day--seventeen, hitting a heat in the middle of summer, in a city like Vegas--too skinny, too small, scared as hell and hormonal. Now…now she was a woman.    
She was still young; he wasn’t blind to that. She was young, but there was more strength in her now. She’d filled out, but her noticeable curves were muscle, in her loose, cutoff denim overalls and the bright yellow t-shirt underneath. She was just as tan and freckled as she’d been--well, more so, now, he assumed--but maybe she’d grown an inch or two. Her hair had grown a little, he thought. Her face looked older, more angled with age now, and pretty. 

If he wasn’t so goddamn pissed off, he would probably have wanted to try picking her up.

 

The look on her face, though...shit, he knew that look. Probably a little too well.

“My foster put it down as my name. Had it changed on the papers when he adopted me.” She bit out, her voice choked with an old rage. “Changed my birthday, my name.”

“So what, you ran off because you didn’t like the name?” It came out before he meant it to, a kneejerk reaction he wasn’t proud of when he saw the reaction it elicited in her. She went pink in the face and stared hard at her feet on the bleachers, her gold-green eyes cold and hard.

“He was gonna sell me.” She spit, and Kylo went still, muscles tensing.

“Who. Breeders? Or a rut house?” His voice was stony. He knew about this shit; omega trafficking had picked up about ten years ago, just before they’d started getting less and less common. Now, there were shifter ‘brothels’--they called them ‘rut houses’--and the high-end places boasted omegas for alphas to use when the need struck.  
Some of them were decent places, made sure their omegas were taken care of. Others…

Breeders were another story entirely. He shuddered to think of her getting sold to one of those places.

 

“Don’t know. Heard him talking. Had someone come and look me over. Threw out all my stuff, said he was signing me over, but then I…” She swallowed again, her lips twisting up some, eyes glossing over.

Before he realized it, Kylo felt his hands clenching into tight fists at his sides. He’d stepped away from the fence and taken a few steps towards her, but when she tensed up, he stopped.

“Ki--” He cut himself off, watching her close her eyes, swiping hard at her face when a tear slipped over her cheek. “...Rey.”

His voice was the kind of soft he didn’t think he had in him. She gulped and shivered a little, taking a deep breath, trying to steel herself, to stop crying.

“I wasn’t--I didn’t know what I was gonna do that day,” she choked out, “When I ran into you.” Kylo nodded, listening.

“You got to a shelter?” He asked a bit gruffly and looked at the ground, raking a hand through his hair and trying to calm himself down. How had this happened? He’d been angry at her earlier, now he was angry  _ for  _ her. He  _ should _ still be angry at her, right? She nodded stiffly.

“Got to a shelter. Stayed there three days.” She swallowed, “Met a girl there--a beta girl. She said she worked for people who could help me. Could get me away, keep me safe.” Kylo’s jaw set.

“The Resistance.” Rey nodded.

“They set me up in a mechanic’s shop. Always wanted...always wanted to work on things. I’m--I’m good at it. Fixing things. I…” She sniffed, swiping at her face again. “I wasn’t lying. I could have fixed your car. I’m--I’m sorry.” Kylo nodded slowly, looking down.

“Whatever. It’s done with.” She looked up at him now, eyes still glassy.

“That night...in the forest…” His gaze hardened and he met her eyes now.

 

“You want to know why.” A statement. He already knew. She didn’t move, didn’t make any sign of agreement, but he knew. “You pissed off the wrong people,” was all he offered. She frowned.

“I’m good at that. What wrong people this time?” She looked stony-faced and more uncaring than he felt she ought to be.

“If you knew--if you knew who sent me after you…” he shook his head, taking another step towards her. His eyes were intense, but she didn’t flinch. “If he knew you were still alive, you’d be running again.” He saw her take a breath at this, but she only looked away.

“I run a lot.”

“Not like this. Not from him.” She turned back to him again, and when her eyes met his, he could see the green spearing the gold in them.

“He won’t know, though.” Her voice was level, plain. “You can’t tell him.”  
Kylo Ren went still, eyes fixed on hers.  
She was right.

 

“...No.” He exhaled, his gaze hard. Rey eyed him for a long moment.

“Am I safe here, Kylo Ren?”

He had to look away, finally, eyes traveling over the treeline yards away that bordered the hiking trails threading out from the park. The sun was hot, and they’d only just passed midsummer. A breeze rustled past them and he could smell her, soft and sweet and omega.

 

“I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmu on [twitter](https://twitter.com/binarysvnrise) or dm me on my [art blog (18+)](https://shierak-inavva.tumblr.com/)


	7. you'll never know unless we go

It took him almost two weeks to figure out her schedule, or at least what it typically was.

 

Armitage Hux was a creature of habit (among other things) and so once he got into the groove of visiting Takodana each morning for coffee, he kept at it. He knew when to expect her.

She worked Tuesdays, and then Friday thru Sunday, usually in the morning. She walked to and from work, he found out, but did not know where she lived. She smelled like sunshine before oncoming rain and something floral with a hint of coconut that he knew had to be her shampoo. He also knew she liked the color yellow, and liked to sing--something he’d heard her doing on more than one occasion now while he was sitting in the café on mornings when he didn’t have to be to his office early or taking time to review paperwork. She’d been behind the counter, cleaning or stocking something, and with his hearing he didn’t have to try hard to overhear her even from a slight distance. It was...charming.

Her name was Rey. Just Rey, nothing more. She’d at least told him that much, one morning when he’d paid for his coffee and given her a quiet nod. She didn’t seem so anxious when he came in, now; didn’t look like she might bolt away any time he came towards her. He wondered who had made her that way.

“Thank you,” he’d murmured, same as every other time he’d paid her.

“My name is Rey,” She’d replied, not quite meeting his eyes but, he noticed, smiling slightly. She’d handed him his coffee, minutes later, and nodded the way she always did. “Thank you. Have a good day.”

“Hux,” he replied, and she blinked at him, her hazel eyes finding his, finally, as he turned from the counter to exit the shop with a little nod. “And the same to you, Rey.”

  
  
  


The new moon came, mid-July, and with it came the variety of responses their kind had to the darkness.

There was a certain unmistakeable melancholy that came with the absence of the moon each lunar cycle. Everyone handled it their own way, really; some stayed indoors, took a day of quiet rest. Others nested down together for the day, some spent the night deliberately alone.  
Armitage Hux used the new moon to run.

The opposite of the fervor the full moon brought on, during the new moon his head was clear and typically the forests around the town were empty when the sky was dark. It was quiet--and that, to him, was ideal.  
  


That night was warm, and the air seemed still. The dark didn’t bother any of them, so when he reached the edge of the sidewalk and stepped into the grass at the town limit, making his way out of reach of the odd ‘safety’ of the streetlights and into the night shadows that beckoned around the woods, he didn’t slow down, he sped up.

Usually he ran in this part of the woods each month, just off the edge of the town proper where the housing market hadn’t yet touched. Ren’s jobsite was apparently not too far from here, but no one would be around there this time of night, not even the shifters.

Hux’s running shoes crushed the grass under his feet as he headed into rougher terrain, keeping a normal pace for now as he wove his way through the trees, dodging fallen branches and underbrush with ease. After a time, he let himself speed up--he felt in control, on these nights. He could keep himself within the constraints of a human appearance and still enjoy the perks of the moon blood in him. He could race through the woods faster than any human, senses keeping him from tripping or falling or hitting anything, and still keeping him alert to anything moving around him.

Scent told him there were deer wandering somewhere close. An owl cried somewhere in the distance, and the typical nightcalls of cicadas echoed around him in the bushes, the trees…  
It was so much noise, but for the night it didn’t bother him.

The woods smelled like dirt, and wood, and night--and as Hux ran on he smelled fresh water ahead; one of the scattered lakes around the area, he knew. Sometimes he’d stop at this one when he was hunting, but tonight maybe he would just run the ring of it and then move on.

 

The lake was as he anticipated. Placid and dark, a black mirror under the moonless sky. It looked like a piece of starry sky on earth—like if he dove in he would be adrift in space rather than submerged in murky lakewater, and it was such an absurd thought that he actually slowed his pace some, shaking his head to clear it.

But it wasn’t him diving into the water, in the end. It was something emerging _from_ it.

Hux skidded to a stop before even reaching the shoreline, eyes fixed on the slight disturbance that became a spray of dark water and shadow as something broke the surface. His eyes widened slightly and he went still, trying to figure out just _what_ it was before going back on his way; there was nothing _that_ large living in this lake, and he couldn’t imagine anyone else out right now…

He was wrong, it turned out.

The shape in the water was humanoid, slender arms and a long neck leading down to a set of slim shoulders. Dark hair clung to skin that looked like sandstone in the moonless night, hanging in thick, soaked tendrils over a face. Hux stood, startled, as the thing turned to spy him on the lakeside grass, and its’ eyes widened but there was no scream. Instead, it ducked back under the water again, and Hux blinked, trying to make sense of it.  


...Shifters were real. Their kind had been real since the earliest days. Vampires...he had no idea, didn’t particularly care. Witches, their kind were just as real as he was. He wasn’t sure he believed in ‘faeries’ or whatever the hell the humans called them, and he certainly didn’t believe in mermaids--was that what this would be? A mermaid? In a lake, in upstate Maine?  
The head resurfaced, closer this time, and Hux inhaled sharply, feeling his hackles go up slightly, but now…

Rey was peering out of the lake at him in the dark.

He paused, relaxed slightly. Blinked at her in surprise, watching her rise a bit more out of the water, slicking her wet hair back away from her face, rising just enough for him to see her collarbone and nothing more.

“....What are you doing here?” Hux frowned slightly.

“I could ask you the same question.” She glanced around and shook her head at him.

“This is essentially my backyard,” She replied, and he blinked. Her backyard? She drifted slightly closer, rising just a bit more out of the dark, cool lake water. “Did you get lost?”  
It was somewhat patronizing. With their senses getting lost was not an easy thing to do, but he saw a grin play over her lips in the dark and his chin lifted a bit.

“I wasn’t aware this land belonged to you now. I’ve been using these woods to run for the last few years.” He exhaled a deep breath he’d drawn in, shaking his head slightly. “However if this is your property, I won’t trespass.”  


Rey eyed him for a long, quiet moment.

She could smell him--it was strong, the smell of night air and musk and alpha, and the night breeze carried it out over the water to as if beckoning her to come out and to him. She managed her urges and stayed in the lake, only moving forward just a foot or two more.

He looked pale and smooth as marble in the dark. His usually perfectly set hair was slightly ruffled from his running and the clothing he wore now was much less formal than the suits she’d always seen him in when he came for coffee. As he eyed her in the dark she sensed something predatory about him, but it was the same thing that she knew lurked in her own bones--and something about the look in his eyes made her shiver, but not from the cold.

“It’s...it’s fine,” she shook her head up at him, “It’s not like I’m doing anything with it. I don’t really know where my property ends. If you want to run…” She inhaled deeply and swallowed, trying to block out the way her hormones were screaming at her. “You’re welcome to run here.”

Hux looked slightly surprised at this, falling silent as he watched her in the dark water. She was allowing him permission to enter her territory; whether she’d marked all of this or not she’d obviously already staked claim, and now she was telling him he had her permission to be here.

For their kind, this was...

“...I’m honored, then.” He gave her a slow bow of his head, and Rey nodded a little, looking away somewhat awkwardly.

“Well...I’m...the new one here. And it’s just running ground. I’m not even out here that much. It’s...it’s nothing.” She knew it wasn’t. Somehow she didn’t mind, all the same.

 

Looking up at Hux again, she swallowed some and wrapped her arms around her torso. He’d been nothing but civil and respectful to her since she’d met him. He came to the coffeeshop nearly every day, certainly every morning she worked, and never once had she felt threatened by him. He was quiet, polite, and brief.

“That’s generous of you,” he murmured, and Rey went a bit pink.

“It’s really nothing. It’s not like any of this is bothering anyone.” he studied her face a moment.

“You never did answer my question. You’re out here to swim?” She shrugged.

“The lake is nice. And I...like to swim. Tonight just...seemed like a night to do it.” she gave him a sheepish shrug in the water, “I figured nobody would be out.”  
He looked somewhat amused.

“I apologize for intruding on your swim.” She shook her head.

“It’s nothing to apologize for. I mean I probably shouldn’t be out here in the middle of the night anyways, but…” She took a breath, looking him over for a moment as if deliberating over whether or not she ought to say the next bit to him. She ran her tongue over her lips. “...But, it’s not like much out here really scares me.”

 

Hux just watched her a moment in silence when she said this. Their eyes met in the darkness and he knew she was testing him, somehow.

“Not much prowling the woods that might pose a real threat, is there.” He said it more as a statement of fact, and Rey’s head tilted slightly to the side as she eyed him, her voice low.

“You tell me, Hux.”

 

There was a moment of quiet, and before he realized it she’d started walking out of the lake and up onto the grass towards him.

She was naked--he knew that much without letting his eyes stray further down than her collarbone. She was testing him, pushing her limits in a way he’d never expected from an omega, and while there was something brash and simple in him that wanted to put her in her place, he was more intrigued by it than anything else. So his eyes stayed on hers, even as she padded barefoot onto the grass, lakewater dripping from her and soaking the shore in her wake.

She stared up into his face brazenly, even if it was with effort. She was an omega, she knew he was an alpha, she knew that he had to be ready to rebuke her for being this bold, but she held her ground. She wasn’t going to cower from any alphas, she wasn’t going to let any of them think they could take advantage of her. She didn’t care what blood or biology said about it, didn’t care that her heart was starting to pick up pace in her chest as she breathed in that heady alpha scent that set him apart from the humans, the betas, from _her_.

Rey stared up at Hux in challenge, and he rose to meet it.

 

“That depends entirely on the situation, doesn’t it.” He replied, his tone even and low. He stepped forward slightly, gazing down at her in a way that was all alpha--imperious and firm, asserting his dominance with just a look. Still, she didn’t back away.  
Somehow, he just liked this more.

“Armitage,” He offered quietly, surprised at himself for giving up this detail. She studied him curiously as he made himself continue, “My first name.”

Rey inclined her head slightly, baring her neck only a little as if baiting him. His eyes never left hers.  
Finally, Rey’s mouth quirked up just slightly, a flickering little smile before she brushed past him.

 

“Enjoy your run, Armitage.”

She didn’t shift to run until she hit the treeline behind him. It took more effort than he cared to admit to stay put--but it wasn’t until she’d gone that he realized: the entire time, her scent had been nearly covered up by the lakewater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rating is going to change very soon...


	8. another way to get to know you

She didn’t have many days off. Two every week, sometimes three if she was lucky--but while she said it like that, she needed the money. And it wasn’t like she hated working at Takodana; she liked her coworkers and she liked old Maz, who came in from time to time to check up on things. Maz was an absolutely _ancient_ -looking alpha woman who Rey had immediately liked. Maz looked like she had leather for skin and wore colored scarves on her bald head, she had a pair of huge round eyeglasses and walked with a walking stick that she never actually seemed to use.

 

Rey liked her. She liked all of her colorful clothes, liked her bracelets and her big glasses and her no-bullshit way of talking and dealing with people. Maz was old (nobody actually seemed to know just _how_ old, but she was definitely getting up in years…) but she had the spunk of a girl Rey’s age.  
She also had some very keen senses.

“You’re attracting a lot of business, you know,” she remarked at Rey from a table near the counter while Rey was cleaning up. It was raining outside, and they’d hit a small lull in business for the afternoon. She was nursing a cup of tea despite the summer heat and Rey glanced up at her with a little smile.

“More money for all of us.”

“Most of these little pups haven’t seen an omega before,” Maz gave her a knowing sort of look, “There are less and less of you each year now. Creatures like you are rare.” Rey blinked, her hand slowing as she wiped down the front counter.

“That’s…”

“The truth. Soon enough you’re going to be considered ‘exotic’. I can’t say I blame you for running to a place like this. Remote...quiet…whatever you’re running from won’t be out this far, hmm?” Rey had stopped by then, looking at the old woman in silent surprise. Maz just fixed an old, wizened eye on her.

 

“If you live long enough, you see the same eyes in different people.” Rey felt a shiver run through her at these words, felt her skin prickle as Maz continued, “I see your eyes. I _know_ your eyes.”

“I just...I just want to live my life.” She spoke up, even if it was barely a whisper. She believed her, knew, somehow, that old Maz Kanata knew what she was talking about. Maz only nodded.

“I know your kind. Unless you find what you’re looking for you’re only going to be doing what you’ve always done: surviving. That’s not living, child.” Rey swallowed hard, feeling tears start to threaten her eyes.

“Yeah,” was all she could manage, nodding and glancing away as if to hide the way her eyes were glossing over.

“Have to stop looking at the past,” Maz nodded to herself, sipping her tea again, “Can’t keep waiting and hanging onto things. There’s only the present and the future, and that’s where you’ll find it, whatever it is you’re looking for.” She raised her cup to her lips but paused, eyes shifting back to Rey for a moment before she drank again.  
“Belonging.”

Rey had to swallow hard to try and rid herself of the lump forming in her throat. Maz was good at reading people. Some of her coworkers and some of her customers were convinced the old woman was some kind of psychic, and Rey was inclined to believe them.

  
  


 

He saw her around town constantly now.

It was like any time he was out walking anywhere, he ran into her. Coming from work, heading to the grocery store, the farmer’s market, visiting a coworker, sometimes just jogging--she was always out and around.

She didn’t shy away from him anymore, thankfully. In fact, sometimes she’d even wave at him or say hello. He ran into her outside of the public park once, gathered with a few other human girls she worked with, and when she didn’t move out of his way on the sidewalk the girls looked stunned to see her greet him like it was nothing.

“Hi Kylo,” she’d given him a sunny smile, still laughing from whatever the group of them had been talking about, and he couldn’t stop staring at her. Her whole face lit up with it, like she was glowing, standing there smiling like the sun in her cutoff jean shorts and her yellow tank top.

“Hey, Rey.” he nodded, raking a hand through his hair. Rey glanced around, and then at him.

“Where you heading?”

“Meeting someone for lunch,” He offered up like this was normal, her asking about him. He was pleased she was talking to him, and if he hadn’t been in a bit of a hurry he might have stayed longer. A breeze rolled through and washed him in her scent, floral and sweet and _delicious_ . If he hadn’t been in a hurry he might have stayed _much_ longer. “The fuck are you all out here for? It’s hot as hell today.”

“Pokemon,” she flashed her phone screen like this explained everything, and then laughed when he made a face that clearly meant he had no idea what she was talking about. “It’s a game--you should come hunting with me sometime when you’re not in a hurry!”

The phrase was innocent enough but the look in her eyes said she meant more than she said. Hearing ‘ _come hunting with me_ ’ from her was enough to make his muscles tense excitedly, but he had to tear himself away.

“Maybe next time. Have fun with...whatever the fuck you’re all doing,” he cast a brief wave over his shoulder as he headed down the sidewalk again and Rey laughed behind him, playful and beckoning. If he hadn’t been in a hurry...

  


The next time he saw her where he could stop like this was in her car a week later--an old rusty jeep with a pair of goggles hanging around the rearview mirror and a very new-looking white bumper sticker of the full moon on the back of it. It was rounding ten at night and he was out with some of the other workers from the jobsite he was on, standing outside of the town’s bar. He’d already had a few beers and so had the rest of them--which wasn’t a lot, considering most of them present were betas but still shifters--but he was feeling pleasantly buzzed by the time she stopped at the traffic light in front of them.

The street was almost empty save for her jeep, and while the other workers were unabashedly staring but keeping their distance, Kylo jogged right out into the street without a second thought.

“Rey!”

The driver’s side was closest to him and with her windows down he could hear the music she was playing and smell her inside the car already. He didn’t know the song but it was, what, ‘folksy’? It seemed like something she’d like, anyways.

“Hey, Rey!” He tapped on her car door as he jogged up, even though she was already turning down the volume of her music and looking out the window at him.

“Hi,” she glanced up at the redlight and put her jeep in park, turning to face him a little better. “What’s up?” She smiled, and if he’d had a few more drinks in him he’d have been hopping into the car with her already. The streetlight glow made her look golden, her tanned, freckled skin glowing like gold where the light touched, reflecting in her hazel eyes. Her hair was messy and curling from being damp with sweat, he could smell, and fuck if that wasn't stirring something in him. He couldn't help but very briefly let his mind wander to things he had no right to think about: _Rey, coated with sweat--and not all of it hers. Splayed out on her back, hair damp and curling and sticking to her skin, smelling like omega and sex and hi--_

She smelled fucking amazing--he cut himself off of that thought train, knowing she'd be able to tell just what was on his mind through smell alone if he kept it up--looked like she’d come from a hike, smelling vaguely of sweat mixed with fresh air and pine trees and _Rey_.  
If he’d thought he wanted to get close to her before, he got a nose full of her scent now and fuck, if he’d have fit he would have just crawled in through her window.

“What was that you were doing last week--the game shit,” he gestured before leaning on her jeep, his forearms on her windowsill, “On your phone.” She raised an eyebrow at him, laughing.

“Pokemon Go?”

“Whatever the fuck that is. You said we could go hunting together.” Rey’s eyes met his and she grinned.

“Yeah, I did say that.” The light turned green, but she hadn’t moved. The only other car on the road came up and stopped behind her before Kylo waved them around. The driver swerved around them, casting an angry look out the passenger window as they passed, but Kylo flipped them off before turning back to Rey.

“Well, I’m taking you up on that offer.” Rey chewed the inside of her lip a little, smiling at him.

“Yeah?” He was-- _god_ he was fucking attractive, and he smelled just as good as she remembered, maybe better. She swallowed, trying to dial her stupid hormones back even just a little. His hair was disheveled in that perfectly imperfect way, framing his face and curling softly around his ears and the back of his neck. He'd let his stubble grow out the last week and now was sporting a little goatee and a mustache, which, really she'd never particularly seen herself liking facial hair but god damn, it looked good on him. Even the scar...she still hesitated to look at it, but it was there and there was no changing that anymore, really...even the scar just...somehow only made him look even more attractive.  
Rey swallowed a little, biting at the inside of her mouth and wondering a little hastily if she was getting close to one of her 'time of the month's.

“Yeah,” he grinned at her in a way that could only be called _wolfish_. Rey took a deep breath, and was interrupted by another car zipping past them, honking as they nearly clipped Kylo.

“What the _fuc--_ ” He turned around as if about to chase the car down and Rey shifted her jeep out of park.

“Get out of the street, oh my god!” she laughed, shaking her head and slowly starting to move while waving her hand at him to shoo him away, “We’ll go, we’ll go, I promise, just get out of the road!”

 

He took a few steps back from her car, cocky grin plastered on his face.

“You promise?”

“I promise!” She rolled forward a little, and he jogged along the sidewalk after her.

“How about next week?” He called, and she leaned her head out the window a little, grinning back.

“Around the 26th?”

“Yeah!” He hit a crosswalk and stopped, and Rey leaned out the window a little more, nodding back at him, her foot on the brake. He heard the laughter in her voice and it made his chest tighten.

“The 26th is _perfect_!”

 

Her music turned up again as she drove off, and he was left on the street corner grinning and watching her tail lights disappear. He felt like he was drunk already, felt like he could run for hours, like he could chase her car down right now and catch it without even losing his breath, but he stayed where he was, ran a hand through his hair, and then went back to his coworkers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rey's got some very foreshadowing taste in music](https://youtu.be/d5axbaGBVto)
> 
> see you guys again on the full moon c;


	9. when the moon is round and full

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first off: rating change this week, and while this is definitely not the dirtiest thing you'll read in here, i'm covering my bases.   
> and from this point, sex is going to be more involved anyways.
> 
> i'm seriously just in LOVE with these moodboards--i've been waiting to post them here but these were done by an AMAZING friend on twitter who i adore so thank you sky you're the best and i'll drop your @ if you let me ♡♡♡  
> 

The full moon came the next week.

 

They could all feel it coming in the air. It was a week of electricity, of amped-up senses and blood-pumping excitement. Rey even saw the change in Hux-- _Armitage_ , she thought, that morning when she brushed her fingers over his knuckles giving him his coffee and felt something surge through her like a current--who was usually polite and concise, but this week was speaking a little more than usual, was letting his eyes linger on her a little longer than usual, was looking at her with more heat and hunger in his eyes than usual.

Rey hadn’t even tried resisting it, this week. She’d let her hand brush his, let her eyes meet his, let him look at her like that, and worse--was it worse, really?--she’d _enjoyed_ it.

“Green brings out your eyes,” he’d murmured one morning as she’d come to sweep near the table he’d sat at. Rey had looked to find him openly gazing at her over his coffee, and she’d felt a pleasant shiver run through her at the look in his eyes--which were, amusingly, a greyish shade of pale green.

“It’s my favorite color,” she smiled to herself, continuing with her cleaning.

“I’m surprised you don’t wear it more often.” Her smile widened at this.

“I like wearing it in the wintertime,” she replied, “Makes me think of warm things, summertime.” She met his gaze, a little grin on her lips as she studied his eyes, “Rain, maybe. Or the ocean.” He seemed to understand what she meant and the smallest trace of a smile curved his mouth up as he took a sip of his coffee.

“That suits you,” he seemed to be laughing, and Rey smiled.

“What, rain, the ocean?”

“Summertime.” He said it with a quiet, amused sincerity and Rey paused a moment in slight surprise before smiling and continuing her sweeping again, drifting a little further away from his table.

“Something tells me winter is more your time of year.” her tone was teasing, playful.

“Mm. I do like a touch of summer in the cold months, however.” She could hear the smile in his voice, and his reply made her wish she didn’t have work to do.  


 

She had no idea what she was doing. He looked at her like he wanted to devour her and sometimes when Rey met his eyes, _fuck_ , she wanted to let him.  
Why? She could cop out and blame biology: an alpha and an omega, of course she wanted to let him get a taste of her--but god was that really all it was?

And more than that, what was going on with her and Kylo, anyways?

Was this really all just a bunch of omega-related bullshit? She was going doe-eyed over two men--two _alphas_ , for fuck’s sake--and for what, because their biology just happened to be compatible that way?

Either way, she’d already promised to see Kylo on the full moon. Hux hadn’t said anything direct about it and she wondered what his plans were, wondered if maybe she (they?) would run into him when the moon was full and the woods were dark.

  
  


Thursday came, and Rey couldn’t focus on anything all day. She was going through the motions with everything until her shift ended and she all but sprinted home, rushing down the dirt road to get to her remote property.

Tonight.

Tonight, _tonight, tonight._

She felt her blood rushing through her veins and felt that same anticipation she felt every month, every moon, that set her skin tingling and made her heart race--and this month, she wasn’t running alone.

Would he find her here? She didn’t dare go closer to town but she knew they’d figure out how to find one another. She always stayed in the woods and stuck far outside of the town, usually heading up for the hills to avoid any other unwanted company.

Moonrise was coming. Summer was her favorite time for this because as dusk started falling, the moment Rey sensed the moon on the rise she was in her backyard, stripping out of her clothes on her back porch and leaving them in a heap. The night was warm, and she felt her naked skin prickling delightfully as time inched closer and closer and the pull grew stronger and stronger, and when the change came…

Shifting was like being reborn. Shedding one skin for another, bones popping and muscles expanding--it was like every bit of unknown tension in her left her body to leave her feeling new and perfect, fur bristling as she bucked and writhed and wriggled out of one form into another.

Coming out on the other side she flexed her muscles and snorted hard in the night air, shaking her fur out and shutting her eyes for a moment, attuning to everything around her.  
And then, claws tearing the grass, paws digging into the dirt, she took off into the trees.

  


Out in the foothills, howls weren’t heard in town. There weren’t many of their kind that shifted in that area as it was--the wolfsbane pills were becoming more and more mainstream now, and if anything it was the betas that ought to be declining in number with how little they seemed to actually be true to what they were--and so when Kylo heard a high, unfamiliar howl echo around him through the woods, he knew who it had to be.

He raced through the trees faster than any other predator in the woods, waiting to catch her scent, waiting to catch sight of her, waiting to hear her again, and when finally he did he came skidding to a halt on all fours in a clearing.

She was waiting, bathed in moonlight and crouched on the grass until he broke through the trees. When she recognized it was him she drew up on two legs, her ears forward, tail swinging slowly behind her.

 

_Good fucking_ _god, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen._  


Her fur was as white as the moon and dusted with gold, like she was some kind of fallen star. She was small, compared to him she seemed almost tiny, but she looked powerful. She held herself like an alpha, drawn up and unafraid, bright green catching the moonlight in her golden eyes and glinting out at him.

Rey, meanwhile, was just as breathless— _holy fuck, he was an alpha among alphas_. Like this, there was _no_ doubt about it.

He was _massive_ , hulking and so black he looked like a moving shadow with eyes that just barely seemed to reflect a hint of color. His teeth were white, though—bright white when they flashed at her across the clearing. He didn’t even have to draw himself up to look fully intimidating, broad and thick-furred he dwarfed her when he stood in front of her and _fuck…_ if she’d ever truly felt like an omega it was right now.

He slowly started crossing towards her, padding across the grass and watching her as if she were prey and could bolt at any second. For a moment she _felt_ like prey, gazing up at him as he drew closer and closer, gazing intently at her all the while.

 

It had been a long time since she’d run with, hunted with, anyone else. Now she was face-to-face with Kylo Ren in the warm summer night air and she was starting to wonder if this had been a bad idea.  
Not because she was afraid of him.

Because she was getting a little afraid of _herself_.

This close and shifted, he was an omega’s heat dream. Good god, he was huge and powerful and radiating _alpha_ , and Rey was feeling some things she was starting to worry about but the very very omega part of her was practically drooling at the sight of him and ready to forget all about hunting anymore.  
He stepped a little closer, looking down at her with curious amusement in his eyes, but when he sniffed the air, Rey felt her hair go up at the shift she saw in his gaze. It made her shiver, made her muscles tense, made something inside of her _very_ excited.

Kylo was leaning in a little closer and Rey, without a second thought, broke away and ran for the trees.

 

It was taking everything in her to not run back to him. She shouldn’t be fighting this, it was what she was meant for--an omega for an alpha--and fuck, he was the most tempting fucking alpha she’d ever met.  
But that was the problem: if she ran back, if she let their biology take over and let him get ahold of her, what happened then?

She’d been thinking maybe she liked him, really liked him, had wanted to maybe try and actually date him if this had gone well, but if all she was feeling towards him was _oh please fuck me, alpha~!_ Then she didn’t want it.

If that was it then she may as well have just packed up and headed for a rut house somewhere--at least she’d have food and board, right? That was a frustrating thought, and she ran a little harder when it struck.

 

Kylo Ren had bolted after her.

Paws pounding the forest floor he chased her through the woods, a dark shadow chasing flashes of white moonlight.  
He could smell her. She wasn’t trying to run from him, the way she was moving. This was like a game--she was letting him follow her, and he felt like he was on fire with adrenaline chasing after.

He didn’t know what would happen when he caught her. He _would_ catch her. Whether before or after the moon set, he couldn’t say, but he would catch her. He could smell her like she was right next to him and he’d seen the look in her eyes, he’d practically heard her heartbeat quicken--he’d _definitely_ smelled the change in her mood. He knew what she’d wanted, just then.

She was an omega, he was an alpha. Attraction like this was natural, it was something much, much older than the two of them. He smelled arousal on her in that clearing and he knew what she wanted.  
_Fuck_ , he wanted the same damn thing.

Every bit of his alpha blood was howling in his ears, _find your omega, claim your omega, she needs you she needs an alpha she needs to be mated--_ and that was all primal and instinctual and something all alphas seemed to have ingrained in them but the part of him that was just Kylo was chasing after Rey, the girl whose scent he’d memorized for six years, the girl who had escaped him three years prior, the girl who had showed up out of nowhere into this remote town that he happened to have secluded himself to.

He hadn’t been able to get her off his mind ever since the day he’d seen her here in that coffee shop, and right now, she was the _only_ thing on his mind.

  


Rey ran. She ran hard through the darkness but she knew there was still part of her that wanted to be caught.  
She was zigzagging and glancing back far too much. She knew he would catch her.

He’d been on her mind ever since she’d seen him again here in town.  
_Well…_ she thought hastily, her mind conjuring up an image of ginger hair and eyes like a stormy ocean, _maybe not_ constantly _on my mind…_

Which was another thing for her to confront: if she let Kylo Ren catch her, if she gave in to that urge, what did that say about whatever it was she was...starting to feel? (Feeling already?) For Armitage Hux?

She didn’t have an answer. Right now she felt a little too hazy to really contemplate it; the moon was making her blood sing in her veins and until it set again she wasn’t going to be in her right state of mind.  
The _wrong_ state of mind, though, was apparently her thinking that she might just _really_ want _Kylo Ren: Huge Sexy Alpha_ to catch her.

 

They played cat-and-mouse for hours. More than once, Kylo nearly caught her, but Rey managed to zip out of his grasp each time, making sure to let him get a brush of her tail or a quick graze of one of her paws.  
_Little longer see if he keeps up see if he really wants it see if he is strong enough good enough could be your alpha--  
_ Every time they almost collided, her heart beat just a little faster, drawing quick giggles out of her before she moved out of his reach again.

 

He didn’t even feel winded. The full moon made all of them feel like they had boundless energy, he knew, but this was really something else.

Ordinarily he might have been irritated about having to put forth this kind of effort, to give this kind of chase, but every time he got close enough to her, saw a flash of her eyes, got a breath of her scent again, he didn’t care about the time it was taking. He felt manic in his urges, _find her catch her catch her take her my omega my Rey--  
_ She was worth it, all of this, even if he’d spent years hating her, even if he’d suffered more than once because of her--he caught her scent and it filled his head with thoughts of her smiling, the way her hair looked in the afternoon sun, the way her freckles dusted her shoulders.

She was good, she was _good_ , and as he felt the dawn coming and the moon starting to dip in the sky, he wanted to let her know, before this chance he had was gone.

  


He caught up to her finally near the clearing they’d started off in, and at last managed to tackle her to the ground.

They tumbled over the grass, snapping snouts and struggling to come out on top until Rey made a noise that made Kylo worry momentarily that he’d actually hurt her, and she shoved him over so she could be the one finally pinning him.

She was fully at attention, pinning him by his broad shoulders, silhouetted by the fading moonlight. Kylo stared up at her like he was seeing her for the first time, with her weight on him like this, her body pressing against his on the cool grass, and Rey went a bit still, gazing down at him as he looked up at her.

“God, you’re fucking beautiful.”

It was the first thing he’d said to her all night and Rey gasped, her eyes going wide, fur bristling in surprise. Her reaction gave him all the leverage he needed to shove her sideways so he could pin _her_ now, but he leaned over her rather than pressing down on her much smaller body, caging her under him.

She stared up at him now and she looked as surprised as she had that day he’d first seen her again. He didn’t move, gave her the chance to get free.  
She stayed.

“The moon makes us all say stupid things,” she murmured awkwardly, turning her head.

“The moon’s setting,” he rumbled at her, and Rey shivered when she looked back up at him.

 

His expression was intense; eyes that were tinted almost red gazing down at her from that dark face, slashed across the eye with a pale scar. A scar she’d given him.

As if entirely losing her mind for a moment, Rey leaned her head up and brushed her nose against the pale line splitting his face. She felt Kylo go tense above her, but after a moment he leaned into her touching, rubbing his great furred head against hers until she drew back and settled on the grass again.

“Rey…” It was almost a growl, low and rumbling in his throat as he watched her pupils dilate and felt her heartbeat quicken. He knew what this was, what they both were feeling, and he was right: the moon was setting.

“Kylo--” Rey sounded like she was panting, feeling the shift back coming on, feeling the same nagging _want_ from earlier settling back into her.  


Shifting back was only a brief reprieve from the intensity--the fervor of the full moon was gone, and they were left in their soft human skin to face each other in the quiet night air.

Within moments, Kylo Ren had taken hold of Rey’s waist and dragged her to him on the grass, his mouth meeting hers without second thought or hesitation.  
Rey’s reaction was immediate: she slung her arm around his neck and drug herself up onto his thighs, kissing him back.  


They kissed like they were struggling to devour one another, hungry and consuming, rough and heated. Rey felt Kylo’s hands take her hips, and she shuddered against him, knowing that like this--both of them totally naked and pressed together--there was no hiding or denying the arousal in either one of them, and by now neither one of them cared.

Rey’s hands were on his head, holding him to her as if afraid of letting him stop kissing her. Kylo’s hands slid to knead her ass, chasing each of her kisses with one of his own, feeling her hips rock against his legs, under his hands, catching the intoxicatingly sweet scent of her arousal with each shift of their bodies.  
He locked an arm around her waist and pulled her hips closer to his, enough that she could feel his cock pressing against her skin between them. Her mind went foggy when she felt him rock against her, velvet heat and smearing her belly with precum.

He ground his hips up against her, desperate to be inside of her already, and Rey felt the urges hitting her in waves: felt slick starting to trickle over his legs where her cunt rubbed, her skin prickling and warming, could smell the excited scent her own glands were giving off, felt the heat pooling between her--

_Oh, fuck._

Somewhere between going over these symptoms and her brain on a loop track of _fuck me fuck me please alpha take me right now please make me yours_ it occurred to her that this was definitely not about to be plain old beta-level sex, this was about to be a real, actual heat episode.

She only went into heat maybe three or four times a year, if that. It had been more in recent years, her doctor had said it was because she was gaining more weight and living better, but that had been when she’d only been having two a year and before she’d run all the way here to the east coast. The thing was, heat was almost a scheduled thing--and she wasn't due for one for at least another two weeks.

 

With an excruciating amount of effort, Rey wrenched herself out of Kylo Ren’s grasp, and stumbled to her feet on the grass, flushed and panting as she looked down at him. There was grass sticking to her bare skin, dirt smudging her here and there, her hair wild and sporting leaves likely from their run still. Her chest was heaving and she was wild-eyed, feeling an excess of saliva pooling in her mouth and her cunt leaking an embarrassing amount of arousal down her thighs, but she still took a few shaky steps back.

Kylo looked like she’d punched him in the gut, staring up at her in shock as she retreated. He could smell it--he could _see_ it at this point, for fuck’s sake--that she was going into heat, that she needed to be satisfied, that she needed to be _fucked_ , and he lurched forward to follow her for the second time that night but she recoiled, her voice shaky and cracking.

“N-No!” He froze. _No?_   What? How could she be saying no--how was an omega hitting a heat refusing sex? Refusing sex _with an alpha_? From the look of it, not easily.

“Rey…”

“No--please--please don’t, I--I need to go--please--please please,” she was swallowing hard and rapidly, sounding strained, as if she might sob, and with how good he smelled and how low his voice was and how warm his skin had been she damn sure felt like she was about to. “I-I can’t--don’t want-- _please_ \--” Not now, not right now, not while she could still control herself--this could end in her getting pregnant, could end up turning into something they regretted later, and Rey would be damned if she was just some omega bitch to rut for him, or anyone else. “I’m--I’m sorry!” she finally gasped out, and turned, bolting towards the trees and disappearing from sight, leaving Kylo alone on the grass in the starlight.

  
  
  


He’d made it home, if barely. Tried to shower to get her scent off of his skin, scrubbed until he got even more aggravated from how it was chafing his skin to scrub harder. He could still smell her, could still feel her on him, wanted to rip his skin off again and howl with how god damn much he wanted _her_.

Instead, he found himself at the same apartment door in the wee hours of the morning _yet_ _again_ , though at least this time he wasn’t drunk or in need of somewhere to nurse some wounds for the night.

He gave a few heavy-handed pounds on the door, knowing the owner was inside, before the lock clicked, the door swung open, and Hux looked disheveled and irate, fresh from the shift himself.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, I _just_ got in--” Kylo pushed his way inside, immediately grabbing the smaller man by the waist and kicking the door shut behind them as he caught Hux in a bruising kiss, the two of them stumbling backwards into Hux’s dim apartment.

 

Hux smelled like the woods, the shift, like, well, like _Hux_ under it all--the cigarettes, the mint gum, the cologne, the mild medical smell--and Kylo knew it just as intimately as if they really were lovers, because this? As they tore off clothing and clawed at one another, biting kisses and bruising fingers and punishing mouths--this was scratching an itch. Two alphas fucking was bullshit, wasn’t it, a fuckall stupid dominance struggle that could never be as satisfying as fucking an omega, no matter how torn up and how exhausted they both were later.

 

Kylo had shoved Hux down to his mattress and pinned him beneath his larger frame, frenzied and breathing hard, growling at the sharp tug of Hux’s fingers in his dark hair and almost angry as he drug the other man’s hips back to meet his own. How many times had they done this--wrestling to see which of them could finally fuck the other into exhaustion, competitive even here when they were doing what lovers did, what mates did--Kylo growled against Hux’s shoulder blades and roughly ground his cock against Hux’s from behind, not penetrating, just heat and friction and the stick of arousal until the heady scent of two different alphas was too much for both of them.  
_Rey, this should be Rey_ , should be _her_ under him, should be her neck he was playing at sinking his teeth into, her hips his fingers were digging into.

 

When Hux pinned Kylo next, he nearly sneered down at the other man, the two of them sweat-slick and flushed, reeking of alpha musk and yet _still,_ _still_ he could smell it on Kylo Ren’s deceptively soft skin: _Rey_.

He felt furious, viciously fucking the other alpha even if now all he could think about was the omega girl they apparently _both_ were getting acquainted with.  
Why did Ren smell like her? Why did her scent--nearly a _heat_ scent, a faded, lingering smell of arousal and _omega_ \--hang on his skin like this? His eyes narrowed down at the other alpha lying on his back on the comforter. Why had he been with Rey? She had to know who he was, and Ren knew she was the one who had given him the scar he bore now.

He had no claim to her, neither of them did, but right now the moon was still in his blood and howling in his ears and he could smell her, could smell her skin and the remnants of something desiring and slick, and he wanted _her_ to be the one writhing beneath him as he was fucking someone else.  


 

By the time the two men collapsed it was dawn hours and Hux had shut the blinds tightly, prepared to sleep in the next day as long as he needed. Ren didn’t stay, he seldom did, and Hux didn’t want him to as it was--Kylo drug himself back to his own tiny apartment and Hux settled into his sheets, and separately they let sleep lure them both into its depths with thoughts of oak brown hair and freckles like constellations on suntanned skin and a pair of sweet pink lips breathing their names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if u made it to the end and u dont hate me u a real one


	10. won't you lay your hands on me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the story tags have been updated now, but a quick warning:  
> this chapter includes talk of past abuse (implied sexual & physical abuse) and eating disorders. if there is anything else you think i should tag, PLEASE don't hesitate to let me know!

Rey had spent her whole life wondering just what anyone ever meant by ‘nondescript’ when they talked about anything, but looking up at this building now she suddenly understood.

  


She’d had to take three days off work. The strange ‘heat-but-not-heat’ had only lasted about a day and a half, but she hadn’t wanted to take chances and really it had just shaken her a good bit to have it hit like that. When she’d finally gone back in she’d talked to Maz personally, wanting to apologize, but the old alpha woman had put an address and a floor in on her phone and given her a meaningful look through her huge, thick round glasses.

“They’ll see you even without the insurance,” she’d reassured her, and Rey had blinked, looking from the phone screen to Maz and back.

“What..?”

“Your boys have been in all week,” the older woman continued, not acknowledging Rey’s question and Rey let it pass, understanding what this information meant even without the confirmation. She swallowed a little, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry--my _who_ , now?”

“I can’t say that Ren boy is my favorite, but he has a good heart,” she made a face, “Somewhere in there, anyways. The other…” Her brow knit just a hint. “You keep your wits about you. Even if he does like you.” Rey had gone still, looking at Maz like a deer in the headlights.

“...Re--he--wha...t?” She shook her head, trying to digest all of this. “Maz, I’m not--they’re--” but as soon as the words started tumbling out she realized she didn’t actually know what she was going to say, and that Maz had said they’d _both_ been in all week.

There was no use bullshitting with Maz. Rey took a little breath, trying to gather her thoughts.

“They...they’ve been coming in?” Maz looked appeased.

“More than usual, I understand. Asking after you.” She gave Rey another of her far-too-knowing looks, and Rey felt the hair on her arms stand up a little. They’d been…asking about her? Kylo didn’t come for coffee all that often but she saw Hux a good three or four times a week sometimes.

“Oh. I see.” She swallowed a little. What did that mean? Kylo was probably upset with her, after how she’d run off. That thought made her stomach drop a little.  
Was Hux…concerned, then?

“Go there,” Maz interrupted her train of thought, tapping a thin little finger on her phone, “They’ll take a walk-in. Better not to wait, with things like this.” Oh. That was right.

Rey’s mouth went a little dry, her health problems taking center stage again.

  
  


...And now here she was, standing on the sidewalk with her phone in hand about two hours after she’d left Takodana--she’d gone home to change and had psyched herself up for this before letting her GPS take her through the town to where she needed to be, and apparently it was this nondescript brick building on the northside.

Her lips wrinkled up to one side and she took a deep breath through her nose, but then looked up when she caught an all-too familiar scent.

Kylo.

Rey exhaled quietly, feeling a little tremor run through her at the sight of him. He’d stopped in his tracks, exiting the building she’d been about to walk into. He was staring at her in surprise, and Rey swallowed hard, remembering everything in a flash from almost a week ago.

 _“Rey…”_ She could hear his voice from that warm night, but this time he wasn’t lying on the grass, he was standing in front of her on the sidewalk. She offered a tiny, flickering smile.

“Hi.” He didn’t move, watching her as if worried she would run away again.

“...Hey.” Rey was the one who took a few steps closer, and as if she’d granted him permission he took a careful step closer to her in return once she moved first. She didn’t smell...the way she had the last time he’d seen her. He was relieved about that, honestly, but now he was wondering if he’d done something to damage things with her that night.

They stood a foot or two apart, Kylo gazing down at her quietly before finally raking a hand through his hair.

“Are you...are you...okay?” He didn’t know how to phrase it, what did he ask? ‘Did you go home and just masturbate it all out?’ That was...not something he felt prepared to ask her or prepared for _her_ reaction to him asking her. Thankfully Rey nodded and spared him any further thought on this.

“Uh--I mean I’m...yeah. I’m....I think I’m okay. Just uh, just some weird...hormone stuff.” She got out, looking down at the sidewalk. He glanced off a little awkwardly. She couldn’t even look at him--he’d probably freaked her out; the first time he’d even met her she’d been having a shitty experience with some alphas and this had been the full moon, too...

“I’m...I’m glad to hear that. I was worried.” She looked up at him again, and he figured he must have said the wrong thing.

“You were?” she blurted out, surprised. He blinked. Had she thought he wasn’t? He ran a hand through his hair again and nodded a little, toeing the sidewalk some with his workboot.

“Well...yeah. You left like that, and…” he shrugged, “I’m glad you’re okay.” He finished a bit decisively, and Rey looked like she was still trying to comprehend all of this.

He took a breath and swallowed a little, forcing himself to speak again when she didn’t fill the quiet that had fallen.

“I gotta go, though,” he breathed out, shoving a hand in his pocket, “I’m leaving for a little bit.” Rey blinked, gazing up at him until she managed to get a little _‘Oh’_ out. He was leaving? She opened her mouth to say something but he just gave her a nod.

“Yeah. Business stuff,” he looked away again and she understood immediately, her mind racing back to a snowy forest under a day-old moon, the smell of blood in the cold.

“Oh.” This time it was a bit less soft, and she looked down. He heard the harsh edge in her voice and it made something in his chest clench a little. “Well…” she wet her lips some, “Be--”

“I’ll see you around.” He cut her off, and then strode past her down the sidewalk without a backwards glance. Rey forced herself to look away, and set her jaw a bit, running her tongue over her teeth. She didn’t know why she was letting it bother her; of course he was still involved with all of that. But was that what was bothering her the most?

 _No,_ she thought bitterly, _that’s not what it is at all._

  
  


The elevator took her up to the fourth floor, opening the doors to a startlingly clean and modern-looking reception area, different from the first floor directory she’d walked into. It was quiet even with the ‘top 40’ chart music playing, and smelled like cleaning solution and scent-dampeners. There were two other people waiting when she arrived, two other women probably in their late thirties or early forties(which somehow made Rey feel more comfortable?) who were both focused on their phones but glanced up when she walked in to watch her cross the room.

There was a woman at the front desk when Rey approached, feeling very out of place in the nice interior in her blue jeans and her loose orange t-shirt.

“Er--hi, I um,--”

“Good afternoon, miss. Did you have an appointment, or are you a walk-in?” She was a beta and sounded patient, and Rey was grateful for that.

“I’m just walking in,” She replied, her hands resting together on the little counter ledge.

“All right. I’ve got a brief info sheet for you to fill out,” she slid a clipboard across the counter, and gave Rey a meaningful look, “Everything is entirely confidential and kept on private record. Were you referred here?” Rey nodded, obviously relieved.

“Yeah--yes--my boss sent me, er, Maz Kanata.” The woman smiled, nodding.

“Oh, all right. Go ahead and fill that form out and when you’re done bring it back here--I should have someone available to see you shortly, okay? My name is Christine if you have any questions.” Rey nodded again, smiling back and taking the clipboard, going to settle on one of two very chic and modern leather benches and making sure she was a few feet away from the other woman sitting on the same bench.

The questions were, she assumed, pretty standard.  
Name, age, gender, designation...even her lack of insurance was fine, and there was a place to check that she was a new patient. She got a little further down, though, and her mouth twisted up some.  
What were her parents’ designations? Did anything run in her family? Was she related to anybody with anything listed?  
She didn’t know the answers to these questions. Was that going to be a problem? She felt anxious, now, wondering if she’d be turned away because of her lack of information--and she didn’t want to seem stupid for asking about what should have been simple questions.

She filled out the sheet as best she could and both other women were called in to be seen before Rey returned the clipboard, looking a bit nervously at the receptionist.

“I...I know it’s a little...empty,” she got out lamely, and Christine just shook her head, looking things over.

“We get all kinds. Are you adopted, by any chance?” Rey nodded.

“Yeah. I don’t know my birth parents.” The receptionist nodded back.

“It’s all right. If there’s anything that serious or if you’re looking to get a prescription or anything they’ll ask you to get bloodwork done. Is that what you’re here for…” she glanced at the paper, “Rey?” Rey took a breath.

“I really don’t know. I figured I’d come talk to someone, and just...see what they could suggest.”

“That’s fine. An omega...wow.” Rey went a little pink, but Christine didn’t comment further on it. “Go ahead and have a seat, they’ll call you back there as soon as they’ve got time.” Rey nodded, and Christine smiled at her, leaning closer to the counter.

“Tell Maz hello for me when you see her. She’s such a trip!”  
  


As grateful as Rey was for the pleasant reception, she ended up waiting a good bit for them to call her back. A man ended up settling up at the counter while she was sitting there waiting, and she flicked her eyes up to meet his when she felt him staring at her, giving him a ‘really?’ look that made him look away. After he left, though, she still sat there another 20 minutes at least just humming along to the quiet pop music and alternating between Pokemon Go and twitter on her phone.

No one else came in. Rey browsed news articles and watched the radar track of a hurricane out in the Atlantic, wondering if they’d get rain. One of the women from before was settling up at the front desk when finally, another nurse came and called her back.  
Rey nearly leapt out of her seat, smoothing her shirt down and collecting up her phone and old leather clutch as she followed the nurse inside, thankful her waiting room stay was over.

Behind the door, the medical smell was stronger. Everything was crisp and clean and very obviously treated with scent-repellent and dampeners that it was almost overwhelming, but she understood the need. The nurse went over some basic vital information with her, got her measurements. Still five-foot-seven. Oh--she’d gained three pounds though, that was interesting.

Less interesting was when she was led to _another_ room to wait; she was starting to get impatient but at least this was an actual...doctor’s...room?  
She looked around the small room at the medical posters on the walls: diagrams of biology in both human and shifted forms, a closer look at scent glands… she’d stood up to look more closely at them when the door opened, and--

Rey blinked at the doctor, and he blinked up at her, standing in the doorway with one hand still on the knob, a patient file in the other.

“Armitage?” Rey felt her brow go up. The tall ginger shut the door behind him, watching her with surprise in his eyes.

“Rey.” He set the file down on the small countertop across the room, and Rey returned a bit sheepishly to sit on the stiff patient cot, cringing a little at the loud rumpling of the paper cover when she sat down. He was a _doctor_?

He was, as of right now, _her_ doctor?

Rey took a little breath, watching him stand beside the counter in his regular vest and tie and slacks, a white coat over it all, and she wondered how she hadn’t realized it before. She supposed it suited him.

“I didn’t know you were a doctor,” she blurted out, feeling stupid for it. Of course she didn’t know, she’d never asked. He glanced down at the open file, nodding a bit, his voice quiet.

“I suppose there’s a lot we don’t know about one another.” She couldn’t argue with that. He glanced up at her again a moment later, though, and his tone was softer than she expected. “I’m glad to see you’re at least well enough to be here.” Rey went a bit pink.

Oh fuck.

That was right. That was what she was here for. She had to explain….oh Jesus fuck.

“I…” He’d perched on the small stool across from her, tugging a pair of latex gloves onto his hands. “It’s been….a weird week,” she confessed awkwardly, swallowing again and feeling the heat rising in her face.

“Weird?” He repeated, raising an eyebrow. “I’m assuming this has something to do with you being here today.” She nodded, taking a deep breath and steeling herself for this discussion. He was a doctor, for fuck’s sake, he could, _hopefully_ , help her.

“It...I…” She looked up at the ceiling a little, willing her face to stop fucking pulsing like it was. Thank god she at _least_ couldn’t smell him right now. “I’m having some problems with my hormones,” she got out finally, and he’d gotten up again and was a very unfortunately close distance from her, looking down at her on the bench, table, whatever it was she was sitting on, the crinkling mess of paper under her betraying every slight move she made.

“I see,” He breathed out, and Rey felt her mouth go dry. He was going about his job, from what she could tell--producing a few instruments from his pockets to check her pulse and look at her eyes and ears and even in her mouth, and all of this was just horrendously strange and _embarrassing_ \--but worse still was how much of a response his touch was eliciting, even like this.  
His thumb was on her cheek, one and then the other, holding her lower eyelids down a bit to look at her eyes. His index finger hooked under her jaw and his thumb rested on her chin, tilting her head so he could look into her mouth. Index finger pressed slightly on her earlobes for that check. He rested a hand on one side of her head, tilting her slightly so he could press two fingers to her skin and feel her pulse in her throat.  
Rey had to stop herself from rubbing against the palm of his hand, her face burning from what this was doing to her—and she knew he could tell, but thank god he wasn’t mentioning it.

She was fine with admitting to herself that she’d thought about the ginger alpha _that way_ , but had not considered him literally checking her over like this, and the prospect of him finding something _wrong_ with her was making her skin crawl, dousing the warmth she’d been feeling as he was touching her at first. Why was her luck this bad? First the weird hormones and her shit luck with Kylo Ren and now the other alpha she’d been on strange, almost-too-close ground with was the doctor she was having to consult about her weird and probably fucked-up omega hormones. This...this had to be some kind of record for shitty luck, or something.

“Everything looks all right,” he noted, taking a moment to write a few things down in her file, and Rey was wondering what he’d found was the matter with her already. There had to be _something_ \-- “So,” he leaned against the stool, now closer to her again but thankfully more eye-level, “Why did you come here?”

Rey took a deep breath, and looked down a little, her legs fidgeting some.

“Last week...on the full moon, I was out running, and I…” She bit her lip, trying to think of how to be more concise about this. Finally, she looked up at him. “I haven’t been to a doctor in...I honestly don’t really know how long. I haven’t ever had regular heat cycles--usually it’s been once or twice a year and at totally screwed up intervals, and I’ve never had a...a chart, or anything like that,” she knew that was an omega thing, to have charts, to know when you were about to ‘start’--she’d seen it on the internet, there were even cutesy little calendars and shit that you could buy to remind you ‘tee hee, you’re about to enter sexual hell week!’ whenever it was coming up. Hux nodded, though, retaining a professional and terribly aloof expression as he listened.

“Irregular heat cycles are...not the norm, but can happen. You said ‘usually’--has this changed?” She nodded.

“In the last few years, I’ve been…” she thought back to the last doctor she’d talked to. “‘Leveling out’,” she quoted, “The last doc I talked to said that my hormone levels were imbalanced, and now that they were getting to normal levels, I’d be getting a more...regular schedule.” He nodded thoughtfully.

“How long ago was that? If you could give me some estimate.”

“Maybe...three years ago? Four?” Hux nodded.

“And since then you’ve seen more than two heat cycles a year.”

“In the last, like, two years, it’s been four. I don’t really have any set dates for them, but I guess at least it’s a normal number.” He nodded again.

“Before...three or four years ago, did you have the same two-cycle pattern?” She shook her head.

“Sometimes it was only one, and it would be either absolute hell or barely anything, and it could last a few days or...once it lasted about two weeks.” His brow went up slightly, and Rey felt the heat come back to her face, looking away.

“It sounds like hormonal imbalance. There are a lot of factors to consider there, however.” He looked at her carefully, “How old were you when you had your first cycle?”  
Rey looked at the floor now.

“Fourteen.” Hux was silent at this, and she couldn’t lift her head, her face burning, her shoulders stiff.

“That’s...young,” he murmured, and she felt shame prickling her skin. She knew it was young. It was _too_ young; most omegas didn’t hit theirs until they were at _least_ sixteen. _There was something wrong with her. The alpha did not like it. The alpha would think she wasn’t worthy._ Rey wanted to swallow down the intrusive thoughts, but was battling harder with trying to make herself not look like an embarrassed child. “How did your family handle things?” It was more gentle than she expected, again, but still reserved enough that it remained professional in tone.

“My adopted father locked me in my room for three days with a case of water bottles and a vibrator.” She replied in a very stony and low voice that made Hux’s knuckles flex around the pen he was holding as he watched her.

“What?” He sounded stunned, and Rey just managed a stiff nod.

“It was...shitty,” she got out, “but not as bad as others I’ve had.” Hux had to set his pen down on the counter behind him to keep himself from snapping it.

“You said this was an adopted parent?” She nodded again, and he set his jaw, trying to think of how to address this situation. Finally, his voice a bit tight, “I...assume this person has been removed from your life since then.”

“I ran away at seventeen.” She hadn’t admitted that to anyone in a long, long time, and swallowed thickly. “So...yeah.” She expected some kind of admonishment, but instead he nodded at her when she glanced up slightly.

“A far more civil response than I might have had myself.” He exhaled quietly, gazing at her with carefully interested eyes in the most personal response he’d given her since he’d come in. “In regards to your hormonal imbalance, I can imagine there was other neglect at work at that time?” Rey nodded, a little more at ease from his response now.

“I was...not eating well.”

“Malnutrition can have a negative effect on hormones and reproductive health. If you were underweight or just not getting the vitamins you needed…”

“Yeah, that’s probably what it was. Everyone used to say I was too scrawny, I had teachers send me to the school shrink because they thought I was anorexic,” she mused bitterly, “Not because, you know, it could have been abuse.”

 

His hand was on her knee, sudden and light, but strangely comforting.

“You seem like you’ve made a wildly impressive recovery from that.” His eyes were on hers, and she felt her throat tighten a little. She gave him a jerking nod, swallowing hard.

“I--yeah,” she bit out, “I’m better, now.” He withdrew with a certain amount of hesitation, and Rey felt the loss of his hand on her.

“Not better enough to stay out of a doctor’s office,” he mused, and she smiled.

“Guess not.”

“So what triggered this particular visit?” He regarded her quietly now, recalling the night of the full moon when he’d received a visitor that smelled like _her_.

“I...was running on the full moon. I went--I went hunting with someone else, and…” she looked away, going a bit pink, and he wondered what she was going to tell him. “It was sudden. I didn’t think it would flare up like this, but…”

“Was this person an alpha?” She sucked her lips into her mouth and nodded finally.

“Yeah.” Fucking biology…

“That can sometimes be enough to trigger hormonal shifts like this if you’re due for a cycle. Was it a full heat cycle you went through?” He seemed a bit more clipped now and Rey….wasn’t sure she wanted to think about the implications there.

“No. It was...like a day and a half. It wasn’t _intense_ , but I stayed home by myself just in case. And--” she tacked on, “When I came back into town, and ran into other betas and the same alpha again, I--things were--everything was normal.” He took a small breath, nodding slowly.

“Do you normally experience a heat cycle around this time of year?” Rey thought, and nodded.

“Yeah, but usually not until the middle of August.” He nodded again.  
  


“Rey…” He started, and she looked up at him, at the familiarity in his tone. “What is it you’re hoping to get out of this visit?” He asked, meeting her eyes. “I can have labwork done and get a better idea of what vitamins you need to improve in your system for more regular cycles, I can tell you to change your diet slightly, I can tell you to avoid alphas near full moons…” he listed off, but he paused, watching her intently. “I don’t think that’s what you want to hear.”

Rey took a breath, contemplating this.

“I don’t...know.” She admitted, exhaling. “I’ve been so...so _fucked_ by my cycles--I’m sorry--in the past...I get hit with them out of nowhere and it’s…” She could remember so many years of living in fear that she’d hit one, any time, any place, and wind up in a situation she didn’t want to be in.

“Are you after suppressants, Rey?” He asked carefully, and Rey looked up.

“I--I don’t know,” she said lamely, “I don’t like the thought of taking medication like that, but…”

“They’re common among omegas in recent years. A prescribed method to dampen hormones and effectively ‘treat’ heat symptoms.” he said this all very plainly, clearly a rehearsed bit of dialogue. “Omegas are advised to take one pill each day for three days in the week leading to their heat cycle. If you start feeling a cycle coming, you take the pills and it essentially counteracts the hormonal response from your system. Take them too late, however, and they’ll be ineffective.” He sounded like a commercial and Rey was quiet, digesting this.

“Are they...safe to take?”

“I can have you go in for blood work when you leave here and have lab results in the next four days to tell you if you’re absolutely safe to take them.” he nodded. She took a small breath.

“Three pills…”

“Once a day, for three days, at least three days before you suspect a heat cycle.” He met her eyes, “Is that what you want to do?”  
Rey took a moment.

“It...can’t hurt to see the lab results, I guess.”

 

He wrote down an address for her on a sheet from his prescription pad, and watched her look it over.

“I’ll have the office call ahead and tell them you’re on your way. It’s about a five minute walk from here,” he told her, “And as soon as your results are in, you’ll get a phone call to come back here again and go over them.” Rey nodded.

“Okay,” she breathed, “that...that sounds straightforward.” He nodded.

“This all seems more complicated than it really is.” She looked up at him again as she got to her feet, though.

“...Will you be the one I see again when the results get back in?” He paused, the question catching him off-guard.

“Is that what you would like?” She nodded.

“Yeah, if that’s...if that’s okay.” he nodded back.

“Then I’ll be here.” Rey gave him a small, relieved smile, and before she could think better of it,

“They told me you asked about me,” she said, “At Takodana.” He was quiet for a moment, and then nodded.

“I did,” he replied quietly, “Not seeing you there was worrying.” Her fingers held the thin paper a little tighter.

“Thank you,” she said softly, giving the slightest shrug of her shoulders, “For thinking of me.” He nodded, opening his mouth and closing it again, thinking better of whatever he had been about to say.

“I’ll see you soon, Rey.”

  
  
  


‘Soon’ was less soon than she thought. She’d assumed she would see him in the morning for coffee, and she’d been wrong. The same went for the next day, and the day after that--but that afternoon, she got a call just before her shift ended at work.

“Hi! This is Mariana calling for Rey on behalf of Dr. Hux...”

She was able to make an appointment for that afternoon. Rushing out of work, she hurried home, rinsed off and changed, and even caught an Uber to the office building. She was in dark jeans and a loose green shirt--something she admitted to herself was on purpose once she’d settled on it. _“I’m surprised you don’t wear it more often,”_ he’d said, and she wound up sitting in the back of the Uber realizing she’d just gotten cleaned up and dressed herself like she was going on a date….to go to a doctor’s appointment.

Momentarily she was stunned at herself. This was--fuck, this was stupid. He was her doctor, a regular at the coffee shop, but--

No he wasn’t. He was more than that, and she knew it. The lingering gazes, the way he’d touched her more than once now, the night of the new moon when she’d felt it there like she could read his mind, knowing he’d wanted…

She stepped out onto the curb in her brown leather sandals and took a little breath, ruffling her loose hair some. She probably should get it cut, soon, it was growing down her back and she’d just been lazy about actually going anywhere to get it done for months now.

 

The office was cool and inviting with how warm it was outside. The girl at the reception desk was different, still smiling and pleasant as she checked in, though.

“Oh! Hi Rey, I’ve been waiting for you to get here, you’re early! I’ll let Dr. Hux know you’re here, you’re his last appointment for the day!” Rey blinked. His last appointment? She was glad she was early, now.

Within moments she was back in the same patient room as before, waiting a little anxiously for Armitage to come in to see her. She felt stupid for it, again--this was them discussing her lab results and talking about medication to treat her weird heat cycles. That seemed pretty fucking un-sexy--christ, did she want this to _be_ sexy in the first place, though?

Her mind went back to Kylo Ren and she frowned a little at the last exchange they’d had.

 _“I’ll see you around.”_ He’d said, even if he’d told her he’d been worried about her. She’d thought about him for days while she was too afraid to leave her house, had thought about him while she was trying to work the heat out of her system, and he’d given her some brief pleasantries and then walked off.

 _He was going somewhere,_ she scolded herself, _He had somewhere to be._ She couldn’t expect him to just hang around for her, even if they had kissed like that.

Her mouth scrunched up at the thought and she made a frustrated noise to herself, what was going on with them? Nothing, it had to be nothing, and now he was gone so she’d...have time to think, she guessed.  
But here she was sitting in a doctor’s office after specifically asking Hux to be the one to see her again, having gotten dressed in a color he’d told her she should wear more often (but he hadn’t, really, had he?) acting like she was on a date when he was probably just ready to be done with all of this and go home for the day--he probably didn’t care, wasn’t that interested--but she jolted a little when Hux came in finally.

He looked much more pleased to see her than she’d expected.

 

Not that that was saying much; the man seemed to have a constant look of disinterest on his face that put most people off (her coworkers, a few other customers at the shop, some of her friends in town…) but it was...different, when he looked at her. And right now, it was much different than usual.

“Rey,” he greeted her, shutting the door, and she smiled.

“Hi. I hope this isn’t annoying, it’s late in the afternoon and I hope I’m not keeping you--”

“Not at all.” He strode in, looking over the papers in her file, “I told you I would be the one to consult with you about the lab results and I knew you wanted answers.” His eyes flicked up to her and rested there for a moment as he sat on the stool across from her, “The green suits you,” he remarked, and Rey all at once was glad she’d worn it.

“Your results look fine, in terms of the medication,” he started, and Rey hesitated.

“...In terms of the medication,” she repeated, “But something’s wrong.” He took a breath, looking the papers in her file over.

“Your nutrition levels just aren’t where they should be.” He looked back up at her, his tone startlingly gentle, “Often in cases of extreme malnourishment in abuse victims, it’s worse than what your blood levels are showing. You’re in a good place, but by medical standards you’re not optimal.” Rey exhaled a breath she hadn’t known she was holding.

“Oh.” _Abuse victims._ That was what _she_ was, wasn’t it.

She looked down a bit, her fingers fiddling with one another in her lap. An abuse victim.  
He said the words to her, and suddenly she was seventeen again, sitting on that bus with the broken AC.  
Seventeen again and holding her limbs close to herself as she stood in front of Leia Organa, the most intimidating and kind alpha woman she’d ever met, who rested a hand on her shoulder and told her they would keep her safe, looked at her like she was a child.  
She was, wasn’t she? Still just a skinny child with too many problems.

The alpha was not pleased. _I don't give a fuck if the alpha isn't pleased,_ she tried hissing back at the subconscious reaction, but the unfortunate truth was still settling into her bones that she _did_ in fact give a fuck if Armitage Hux thought something was wrong with her.

 

“I’d recommend some daily vitamins, really. You seem overall healthy, and it’s only your heat cycles causing problems, yes?” He jarred her out of her thoughts, and she took a breath, nodding.

“Yeah.” But she still wasn’t looking at him, and he gave her a moment before breaking the silence.

“You can’t do anything about what happened to you,” he told her, his voice low and quiet. Her gaze immediately flicked up to meet his eyes, and found them a bit more harsh than she expected. “But you’ve moved past it, have you not?” He looked at her expectantly, and Rey managed a slight nod.

“I...I want to think I have.”

“That sort of trash doesn’t deserve power over you now,” He sat a little straighter and turned away to set her file aside, “And sooner or later, they all get what’s coming to them.”

 

The statement was just above a whisper, and it made a shiver run through her. Something on his face told her this was something he understood firsthand, and she wanted to ask, but she only nodded, understanding. If he knew the kind of hurt she did, then one day maybe she would learn about it from him--but like her own past, his was not hers to ask about.

“I’d like to believe that,” she replied quietly, and he’d gotten up to write a prescription for her, turning his back as he did.

“You intend to live here now, don’t you?” Rey went silent, watching his arm moving as he wrote on the prescription pad. “You can rest assured you won’t have to face him again, even if somehow he found you.”

She stared at his back for a long moment before noticing he’d stopped writing. Somehow, the words held more gravity than some reassurance she’d never have to face her abuser again. The chances he’d ever find her here were abysmal, and she had a feeling Hux knew that too.

“Is that a promise?” she heard her voice and barely realized she’d said the words out loud. He stood straight and she stayed perched on the cot behind him. When he turned to face her again, she felt her skin tingle and her breath hitch slightly at the look in his eyes.

“If you want it to be.” She held his gaze, fighting the omega urges to submit, lower her head, thank him, _show how grateful she was to the alpha--_ she tilted her head up slightly instead, giving him a gaze that said she would not be ruled by her omega blood.

 

“And if I say that I do?” He took a step closer, feeling a little shiver run through him at the downright imperious look in her eyes. _Swear it to me,_ she was demanding of him, as if asking him to swear her fealty. She was deliciously defiant, this little omega girl, _Rey_.

He stepped close enough that he was standing over her, their heads close enough he could count the freckles dusting her skin, the veins of green in her eyes.

“Then I promise you,” he murmured, low and almost staggering in its gravity, “That you have my protection, Rey.”

 

She wanted him to kiss her, just then. He was close enough she could smell him through all of the chemicals trying to prevent it in the doctor’s office, could count the soft eyelashes framing his cold eyes. She wanted him to close the short distance between them and confirm what she’d been thinking was brewing between them all these weeks now--but while her very nature was urging her to bare her belly, essentially, and roll over to show her own submission to him, she wanted him to be the one to prove all of it to her, wanted him to _ask_ for her submission; and even then, omega bullshit be damned, she was not going to be so completely dominated by anyone.

Somehow, he knew this about her. Unaware of her thoughts, Hux still somehow knew she was not some simpering omega, was not going to just hand herself over to him, and as he gazed down at her, it was a strain _not_ to act on his impulses. Not to press her back against the patient cot, to pin her beneath him and at the same time he wanted right here and now to go to his knees in front of her and let her claim his loyalty. She had it, he knew, if she would take it. Dangerous little thing...it was enough to make his mouth go dry as he looked down at her, hands resting on either side of her hips on the cot.  


And then just as quickly as if a switch had been flipped, he’d withdrawn from her again and busied himself with the prescription pad again, tearing the paper off for her and holding it out for her.  
This was too dangerous; here, now, _her_. He wanted too much of her, all of her, and more than that--and this was too soon, was overwhelming and he was _not_ going to be irrational over hormones or this sort of emotion.

 

Rey was breathing hard, trying to keep her composure and wondering what the _fuck_ had just happened. There was heat in her face, in her chest, between her legs, and she had to look away and force herself to breathe normally before he looked at her again, holding out the prescription to her. He’d been close--she knew, she _knew_ he’d wanted what she had--and he’d _stopped himself.  
_ That was composure and control she could only wish she had.

She took the prescription, left quickly, tried to ignore the want coiling up in her belly.  
  
  


 

Kylo had been gone two weeks, and Rey had filled her prescription, eyeing the little pill bottle every morning when she passed it in taking her new multivitamins. The new moon was coming again. Hux had come into the coffee shop a time or two again since her last visit to the practice, but he was careful around her now, in a way that made her wonder why he was taking that kind of caution.

It had been raining off and on for about four days by the time the new moon was rolling around. The weather system out over the ocean had downgraded to a tropical storm, but it was sending some harsh weather their way all the same, and they were expecting worse by the end of the week. Maz had already told them they’d be closing the shop a few days just in case, but the workers knew it was just a nice gesture on her part to give them all a little mini-vacation while the storms were rolling through. Likely the weather wouldn’t be _that_ bad, but the few days to rest were fine with them.

Rey finished her shift and slid into a pair of blue rainboots patterned with daisies that she’d found in a thrift store, raincoat on as she headed home with her backpack. She’d been feeling a little...off...for a day or two now and she’d decided at work that she’d take those pills to be on the safe side, since she was due any time now, and really with a few days off she could see how she was feeling after taking them anyways, right?

The rain was still falling as she made her way through the gray streets, and she sighed a little. Well, no night-swimming tonight, if the weather was still like this. Probably nobody else would really be out either if it was raining still--which made her thoughts drift to Hux again. Would he be running tonight? She thought of how close he’d been to her that night a month ago, then again of how close he’d been in the little room in the doctor’s office, and felt her heartbeat quicken in her chest.

He’d been close enough she could smell him on her own skin both times, close enough if he’d wanted to he could have touched her, and god, she wanted to be touched.

 _Ohh, she wanted to be touched._ She wanted to know what his hands felt like on her skin, what his slender fingers could do with the practice and precision of a doctor in them. What it would feel like to let him make her shiver and sigh, to feel his breath on her as he said her name in that strange way he had, the way that was commanding and somehow reverent all at once…

 

And just like that, in the middle of the empty, rainy street about five minutes from her house, Rey hit her proper heat cycle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy...


	11. it's hot here, hot here, hot here

They were expecting awful weather in the next few days, but the night of the new moon the rain was a fine mist and that wasn’t anything enough to deter Hux from his monthly run.

Things started as they always did. The rain was in patches, misting the air here and there as he ran through the forest, and under cover of the trees it wasn’t even enough to reach him. That night, however, something in him sent him in a slightly different direction than usual, turning when he reached the empty lake and sprinting through the dark woods in a direction he hadn’t roamed before.

 

It was because of her. It was because of her that he was doing this, thinking of what she’d said. _This is essentially my backyard._ She lived near here, and he wondered if he would actually stumble upon her house itself. Not that he would stray too close, of course. She’d given him permission to run on her property, but there were boundaries, still, and he was sure that had to be one of them.

He kept running, but somewhere in a more dense grove of trees and brush, he caught something on the air, and it made him stop dead in his tracks, immediately halting his swift pace in the wet leaves, his eyes widening in the dark as he sniffed the air.

 

It hit him like a wave, enough to nearly knock the breath from his lungs when realization hit him.

 _Rey_.

He smelled Rey--he smelled Rey, and omega, and the scent of _heat._

There was a split-second in which he was still thinking rationally, and knew he should turn back, but something in him overtook that, and the very alpha urge to tend to an omega in heat had him racing for where he could smell it coming from.

 

 

Her house was aged, an old two-story house nestled in a clearing and edged by trees on all sides. He could smell her despite the rain, and when he got close enough he could _hear_ her, and the sound of her panting and gasping made his heart race. She was outside, she had to be, for this--

Rey was, in fact, on her back porch--she’d made it at least under the roof of her porch before collapsing to the old floorboards, tearing her raincoat and her shorts off in her fervor. She was writhing on the old creaking wood in an old t-shirt and a now-ruined pair of panties, groaning with the full-body ache that heat brought on and the frustration that came from only having her hand to satisfy herself where she was.

 

By the time she caught Hux’s scent, he was taking the steps up her porch, staring down at her in shock, shaking his wet hair out a bit before he came to stand over her.

“Jesus Christ, Rey…” he breathed, his pupils blown and his own hormones trying to get the best of him by now. Rey, for her part, had no idea how he’d gotten here or why, but she didn’t care. _Alpha, alpha, alpha, an alpha, he could help her he could satisfy her he could make this stop could make her feel good--_ she was gasping for breath, whining as her fingers still worked between her squirming thighs.

“A-Armitage…” she whimpered, and he shuddered at the sound of it, leaning down over her, and slowly, carefully, brushing a light hand over her damp forehead.

“Shh,” she jolted at his touch, immediately leaning into it and trying to get more. “Poor little omega,” he murmured, shaking his head, “How long have you been out here like this…?” She was in no shape to answer him, and really he was slipping further and further down into that trap that omega heat hormones sprung on alphas—and even if he was regularly on blockers it was an unpleasant deviation from rational thinking that he wasn’t fond of.

 

Rey was reaching for him now, her hand leaving her panties and making her shiver at the loss of touch. She needed it, needed to be touched, needed to be _fucked_ , needed it _right now_ , and he knew it.

“Please--please, Armitage, _alpha_ , I need--” she was breathless and whimpering, her hips rocking against the floorboards of the porch, body writhing in what clothing she had left on, the thin fabric of her shirt clinging to her sweat-damp skin, her panties already beyond soaked through. He shifted enough to reach for her in return, but paused, forcing himself to at least think some semblance of rationally while he still could.

“What do you want, Rey?” He asked, low and needy. He had to hear it from her, had to know she wanted this--had to know she wanted _him_.

“I want _you_ , I want you, I want--” she groaned, shivering and shaking her head desperately, “I need it, need you, alpha, please, it _hurts_ …” He knew it did. He knew she needed sex right now, but he wasn’t going to do anything she would regret when she was down from this again.  
She opened her eyes, meeting his gaze.

“Please, _Armitage,_ ” she panted, “Please make it better…”

 

He moved quickly, noting her keys hanging in the lock on her back door and unlocking it before swiftly collecting her into his arms and carrying her inside, kicking the door shut behind them. He lifted her up and felt her burning against him, hot enough he could feel it through his clothes--and Rey was nosing at his neck, reaching up to try and pull his running shirt aside so she could get her mouth to his skin. She buried her face near the scent glands there, breathing in the very heady and very _perfect_ scent of an alpha-- _the best thing she’d ever smelled, the best thing in the world, alpha scent, alpha scent, her alpha, he would take care of her he would help her he would make the hurt stop--_ Hux’s hand rubbed her hip gently as he made his way up the old stairs to where he could smell her strongest in the house, figuring that had to be her bedroom.

 

There was thunder outside now, rolling gentle in contrast to how fast their hearts were racing. He found her room and laid her onto her mattress--still tousled from that morning, though he barely noticed in his fervor. Rey certainly didn’t pay it any mind; the minute he’d laid her on her back she’d rushed to reach for him again, whining and scooting her hips closer to where he stood at her bedside.

Rain hit her windows occasionally as Hux joined her on the mattress. Her sheets were cool and soft, and her body writhed on top of them sweat-damp and fever-hot and aching for him, and he wasn’t in enough control of his own hormones to keep her waiting longer.

“Shh, little omega…” He’d hooked his thumbs under the waistband of her panties, sliding them off of her hips and groaning when they pulled away from her, coated in slick and no longer keeping any of her scent from him. Rey shimmied out of them and drew in a shuddering gasp when his fingers slid over the dark, wet curls between her legs and then between her folds. She shook when he brushed against her clit and gasped, jolting against the bedsheets. He withdrew his hand and his fingers were dripping with slick, reeked of _her_ , and more than anything he wanted to settle himself between her legs and drink her in until her thighs shook around his shoulders and she begged him to stop--but right now she needed something different, and gazing down at her, the liquid heat from her cunt still on his fingers, _fuck_ , he did too.

“Poor thing, burning up like this,” he murmured, enraptured by all of it, “Let me help you…”

It was as something switched on in his brain, when he brought his hand closer to his face without thinking. All he could smell was her, all he could hear was her rushed and stuttered breathing, and his eyes couldn’t leave her body no matter if he wanted to or not.

Rey was breathing out pleading murmurs, _please, please, Armitage, alpha, fuck me, please, knot me, fill me, please, Armitage_ over and over as she watched him lick the fluid from his fingers, and the look on his face when he tasted her made her shudder and groan and leak onto her bedding.

 

Before she knew it his clothes were off and her shirt was tossed aside with her panties and he was on his knees between her legs, tugging her hips up to meet his and oh...there was no better feeling, she thought, than smelling _alpha, alpha, alpha,_ the musk of an aroused alpha as she felt his cock slide against her, burning almost as hot as she was, knowing it was about to be inside of her because he had chosen her, this alpha, had deemed her _good_ , a _good_ omega, a _worthy_ omega and she wanted nothing more than to feel him fill her up because she was _good_ , and he _wanted_ her.

She thought that, at least, until she felt the head of his cock slip into her at last, drawing out a string of gasps and encouragement, making her toss her head back against the sheets and shiver in frenzied anticipation ‘ _yes yes please alpha yes all of you I want to take all of you please let me’_ and Hux only nodded, thumb stroking lazy circles over her clit as he angled her hips and his and slid into her in a way that had him rubbing right against her sweet spot and had her eyes rolling. She was tight and blindingly hot, thank god for the slick her body was creating or he wouldn’t have been able to slide so deep or nearly so easily into her.

“Good girl,” he breathed, feeling her shiver and jolt around him, and with precision she’d never known before his fingers pressed down just right as he hilted his cock in her. Rey sucked in a gasping breath at the feeling; he pressed down on a spot under her bellybutton as he began to rock in and out of her, holding one of her thighs to keep her hips to him.

“Good girl,” he told her, watching her chest heave and her eyes roll back, pumping into her slow and deep even if it was a strain for him, “Good little omega, you feel _so_ good--” Rey moaned, doing her best to look up at him when he started speaking to her, low and sweet, “--You held out such a long time all alone today, what a good girl…” Rey shivered and rocked her hips back against him, his praise making her tremble and groan. The alpha was pleased with her, the alpha said she was good, praised her, said she had been _good_.

 

The ‘Little Omega Voice’ in the back of her head was taking the reins now that she was so deep in her heat cycle and nothing else mattered, only pleasing her alpha so that he would be good to her and fuck her until he was satisfied and she didn’t feel so empty anymore. She felt him rock up deep into her again and thought this was definitely a good start.

Rey spasmed around him this time, letting out a startled whimper and feeling her climax coming, finally, but--

“A-alpha--I need--I need--” She was gasping, her hips trembling under his hands.

“Shhh, sweet girl. I know what you need,” He shifted against her slightly and rocked into her again, and Rey knew he wasn’t lying. “I need you to come for me, first,” he coaxed, thrusts getting a bit quicker when he felt her body reacting, “Do you want to be knotted?”

Rey nodded desperately, grasping at the sheets.

“Please--please, yes, _please alpha_ ,” she gasped, and he nodded, kneading his fingers over that spot just below her navel again. Rey saw stars, his voice barely registering after another few seconds.

“I need you to come for me, then, sweet girl,” he murmured, his voice getting husky with how much he was holding himself back. She would be hurt if she didn’t relax more, and it could do more damage that they wouldn’t be able to see to until all of this was over. Rey whimpered and gasped as she felt the pressure building and Hux was nearing the limits of his control when thankfully she bucked against him and cried out, her whole body convulsing and then collapsing to the mattress with his cock still buried inside of her.

 

She’d be back to her senses again in a moment, he knew, and shifted them to a better angle for this, leaning over her and keeping her legs around his waist. He pinned her to the sheets, leaning in to press his lips to her forehead near her hair, breathing in her scent as if in need of a reminder why he was letting himself slip up like this. _Rey,_ he thought in a haze, _Rey, only for Rey._ Oh he was slipping all right, but it hardly mattered anymore. They were already in this pit, now. The only thing to do was ride it out.

“Good girl,” he told her again, still rocking into her as she began to wriggle her hips against his once more. “Such a good omega,” Rey shivered and nodded again, nosing at his chin and breathing his scent in. _Good, good, good, he thinks I am good he thinks I am good enough_ , she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly as his thrusting became rougher, their hips slapping together each time he filled her again.

 

“Am--Am I good, alpha?” Rey wouldn’t have recognized her own voice under regular circumstances--high and breathy, hungry and desperate for validation.  _Please say I am good, please say you are satisfied, please say you like me.  
_ Hux nodded, reaching up to stroke her hair so gently it was almost unbelievable how hard he was pumping into her now.

“Very good,” he grunted against her cheek, “Very, very good,” Rey shuddered and groaned deep and slow when she felt his knot swelling and rocking against her with each thrust. She rammed her hips onto his even harder, swallowing thickly and grasping at his shoulders.

“I want it,” she gasped, breathless and needy, “Want your knot inside me, please…” She could feel it pressing at her entrance, nowhere near the size it would swell to be. She pressed back, aching for it to fill her and lock them together, something primal that she didn’t quite understand. She rubbed her cheek against his hair and squeezed her legs around his waist, rolling her hips against him, “Knot me, alpha. I need—I need it, _god_ I need it, _please_.”

His own alpha instinct, the more feral, primal side of it that he tried so hard to smother and keep caged at all times was beckoning him through the bars. _Your omega needs an alpha. She needs to be sated, needs to be knotted. Fuck her properly, please her. She could be_ **_yours_** _—show her you are a worthy alpha. Show her you take care of the things that belong to you._

“Anything you want,” he told her, low and--had she not been in such a haze, she might have known--adoring. “Anything you want, sweet girl.”

She heard those words and came again anyways.

  


It was a slight effort to work the knob inside of her, even now. Hux leaned in to suck at the skin below her ear, her legs clasped and trembled around his waist as his hand left her hair to rub her clit gently, his thrusts slow to ease his knot into her aching pussy.

“Good girl,” she would never tire of hearing it, never, never, “You’re doing so well, such a good little omega…” The press got more and more intense, and Rey was so desperate for the other side of all the stretch and the pressure that meant being full and meant being _knotted_. Because that was what she wanted, that was what _omegas_ wanted, that was what they were meant for, that was their _purpose_ , wasn’t it?

 

His mouth was hot on her neck and Rey whined, short nails digging into his shoulders. She didn’t _feel_ like she was doing so well; this shouldn’t take so long, should it?

“A-alpha,” she whimpered, “Please…” But he seemed to understand, his tongue sliding against her neck near her scent gland.

“Don’t rush, sweet girl,” he rumbled, “You’re doing so good, so good for me.” His thumb rubbed at her clit a little harder and Rey bit her lip, groaning against her teeth.

“It--it h-hurts,” she whined, “Need it inside, want to feel you come, please…” He felt her hips jolt against him and she squealed as the knot pressed further into her.

“Good girl,” he shushed her, his own breathing getting ragged--she was practically anchoring him into her before he’d even officially knotted her and his cock was aching and twitching inside of her, ready to give his omega what she needed. “Good girl, you’re almost there,” he murmured, “Your cunt feels so good, sweet girl, so, so good. It’s going to feel so good wrapped around my knot.”

She felt almost delirious when she felt him starting to swell slightly, the stretch of it making her mouth water and tears sting her eyes. She wanted it, wanted to feel it seated inside her, and bounced her pussy against it desperately. He nuzzled her neck and kept pressing further, just as eager to be inside of her as she was to feel it.

It felt like a pop. Like she could feel the lump slip inside of her and already she felt secured to him even if it hadn’t finished swelling yet. The strange sensation of feeling sealed like this made her shudder and cry out, and his cock was so deep now that her little movements just made him brush against that one spot inside of her that made her muscles clench and ripped a sob out of her throat as she felt another orgasm bubbling up to the surface.

Hux groaned and clutched her hips, rocking in shallow thrusts against her now that he was locked into her tight body,

“Fuck, you feel so good Rey,” he groaned, “So good like this, such a good omega, taking my knot,” he kissed along her jaw and Rey was gasping for breath, delighted and delirious, knowing she had done well, knowing her alpha was pleased, was happy--and when she finally felt his cock twitch and his knot swell even more as he came, she came _again_ , and was nearly howling with how good it felt.

She wasn’t alone, however; he grunted with the feeling of being gripped like this, his knot swollen more than he swore it had ever been in her tight cunt but it had been such a long time since he’d been with an omega that he couldn’t be sure. Still, he was locked inside of her and spilling into her waiting body and the feeling was _incredible_ ; the urges he’d scorned and fought back for years seemed to chuckle at him imperiously as he emptied himself inside her for the first time, but certainly not the last.  
_A good omega, a strong omega, could be yours. This is what you were meant for, taking care of her--so long since you’ve had an omega, remember this feeling, feels better than before--knot buried in her, your cum inside her, she chose you…_

  
  


She hadn’t realized she’d been totally blissed-out until she blinked a few times and saw lightning flash and illuminate her room. She shivered, realized she was still connected to--

“Oh….fuck.” It was like coming out of a dream, realizing all of what she was remembering from the past few hours had actually happened. This wasn’t over, but she was thanking her stars for this brief period of clarity in her heat since she’d actually...been knotted.

 

Armitage Hux was lying next to her, her legs still loosely wrapped around his waist. He’d been careful to ease himself down while they were still locked together; it had only been a few minutes since they’d both climaxed and he was trying to gather his own thoughts at the moment, but Rey’s voice shook him out of it.

He gazed down at her almost apprehensively, wondering what she was thinking--her scent was mixed: she was pleased, but concerned, and he watched something like fear play in her pretty eyes.

“I...I’m so sorry,” she bit out, and his brow went up.

“Sorry?” He repeated, not understanding. Rey swallowed.

“I’m such an idiot, I didn’t--I didn’t take those pills in time, and I...you…jesus, now you’re stuck here--” She fell silent when he leaned in and rested a hand on her hip, kissing her forehead.

“Shh,” she exhaled, feeling her skin prickle at how good it sounded, how good it felt to let an alpha comfort her like this. His hand rubbed over her hip, fingers gentle and light over the scent gland there. “Shhh. You don’t need to be sorry.”

Didn’t she, though?

“I-I’m clean,” she mumbled lamely, and he nodded, kissing her hair now.

“I know.” Of course he did, he was her doctor. “So am I.” She nodded slightly.

“I’m still sorry.” This had to be inconvenient for him, but he rubbed his cheek against her hair and held her against him and god, she didn’t want to be sorry for it.

“It’s going to start again in a minute,” he murmured, and Rey only nodded again.

He was right. Luckily his knot had deflated some so he could slip out of her before she was aching again, rocking against him and letting him coat her face and neck with kisses and his scent, and for another few hours this was all it was: heavy breaths and shivering sighs, desperation and sweat and heat as Rey begged over and over and he filled her over and over.

 

 

The next time they lay knotted together and taking time to rest, he was at her back and cradling her hips back to his, mouth on her shoulder as she caught her breath.

“You need water,” he told her. _I need you to stay right here_ , Rey thought.

“All right,” she mumbled in the end, groaning as he managed to slide out of her, and god damn even when she was lucid it felt too empty to be without him inside of her.

The storm was still going outside, wind rattling her windows and howling softer than she had inside her bedroom. Fucking heat bullshit, fucking omega bullshit, fuck all of it--he got up and the moment his weight left her mattress she curled up around the place he’d occupied, wondering what the fuck she was going to do about this.

He returned with a few bottles of it from her fridge and set them near the bed, opening one to offer her. It was effort to hoist herself up against the pillows to take it and drink, but he climbed up next to her and she rested against his side, feeling immediately better. It was the worst feeling, feeling this drawn to an alpha, feeling dependent on an alpha, but god it was good.

  
  


“I don’t usually fuck on the first date like this,” she’d climbed onto his lap at the end of another rest, feeling her body heating up again. At some point it had become day again even in the storm, turning the room silver gray and soft around them. Her hands braced against his chest and he held her hips, rolling his hips against her so that his cock slid against her folds and made her shiver.

“Is this a date?” His pale eyes watched her body arch and undulate over his and he’d never seen anything half as tempting as her.

“...I guess not.” There was something hesitant and almost disappointed in her tone, but then she was pressing her soft body against his chest and nosing at the underside of his chin, her cunt drenched and drenching him in liquid heat all over again, and he couldn’t think of anything else but making her feel good.

  
  


Her arms grasped at his shoulders as he leaned over her, sliding a knee between her legs and feeling her thighs shift around his leg, rocking her hips against him imploringly.

She was gasping for breath at the friction against her cunt, and Hux let her continue, stroking down the side of her face to her neck before massaging his thumb just under her scent gland there. It was coaxing even more of that intoxicating omega scent up to his nose and he watched her groan and arch her back beneath him at the feeling--the pressure point he was rubbing was a good one for this, one to help relieve tension in omegas this way, and he wanted at least a moment to look at her this way.

Rey was sweat-slick and flushed; her body was smaller than his, lithe but strong, accented with muscle that he had already traced with hands and mouth and dusted with freckles. She was unlike Ren, who was broad bulk and pale muscle, who goaded him on with teases and taunts. Rey wasn’t so plush either--she was soft, small and pliant under his hands, her little breasts heaving with each labored breath she took, and he knew how soft they were, knew how it felt to knead that tender skin until she was keening and arching for him, knew how she grasped at him when his teeth grazed one of her rosy nipples.

She had slim hips and long legs, and a patch of soft brown curls between her thighs that were beyond sticky and soaked by now with the same slick and cum that glistened on her thighs and had ruined her bedsheets and likely the mattress underneath--she looked like no other omega he’d ever had (which, in fairness was not a large pool to compare) but she was by far his favorite.

“Alpha,” she gasped, turning her head to try and press her lips to his forearm, her eyes flicking up to meet his gaze, “ _Armitage_ ,” and he had always fucking hated that name, the name his father had given him and had equated with nothing--but on her lips it sounded like _everything._

  
  


By the third day--and somehow they registered it was the third day. It was slightly brighter and so it had clearly become day again--they were both deliciously aching and tired. Sleep didn’t come in long bursts during heat; that was for the nesting period afterwards, and so they were tired but in the best of ways, satisfied from the most fulfilling work an alpha and omega could perform together.

Rey was a panting mess, drenched in sweat and slick and cum, begging him with every breath to fill her, knot her, just like that, yes, _perfect, please--_ And each plea was met with one kiss and then another, wet and languid and tender.

“Good omega,” he groaned, “God you’re perfect, Rey…” and she came for him again, shuddering around him and breathing hard. _Alpha is pleased with you this alpha enjoys you thinks you are good thinks you are_ **_perfect_** _\--_  
This was a fucking disaster, but it felt so good she didn’t care.

  


Heat ended very much unlike it began. Gradually, the fever-hot burning in her skin subsided. Gradually her senses returned, and she felt less desperate and more sated.  
She felt _bloated,_ to be honest; she’d lost fluids but had been filled to bursting with more cum than she thought possible and her body was reacting to it, even if she was, thankfully, on birth control. That was the bare minimum she’d been able to manage without insurance and on her wages, but she hadn’t thought twice.  
Her womb was preparing for conception, body tingling with the knowledge that this time, this heat, this was _different,_ this heat there had been an _alpha_ , there could be _pups_ from this heat, from this alpha--her hormones worked hard, but Rey had always made sure she worked harder. She'd bleed in a few days when her traitorous body realized it wasn't pregnant, but it would be worth it.

Hux was massaging her limbs, their fucking turned slow and leisurely as the desperation faded, and Rey held him with heavy arms, breathing in his scent and reveling in the fact she would carry it all over her. She shouldn’t want that, this whole thing was an accident, but the way he looked at her, the way he touched her, the way he said her name...She didn’t know what all she wanted, but at least part of it was _him_.

  


“You need a bath,” he murmured against her neck. _Will you stay to give it to me?_ She thought.

“You should eat,” he whispered near her ear. _I can only taste you,_ she thought.

“You need sleep,” he kissed her hair, stroking her side gently. _If you’ll be here when I wake up,_ she thought.

 _He won’t,_ she knew.

  


He did help her to the shower, the aged metal showerhead dousing the both of them in hot water and finally washing away all of the stick and sweat and sex, and there was part of both of them that was sad to feel it slough off of their skin.

Rey found the frozen pb&j sandwiches in her freezer and pulled a few out before resting on her sofa, her sheets too filthy to sleep on now that she was clean again. The rain was still falling outside but the storm had mostly passed, and now her house smelled like rain and sex, which wasn’t a terrible combination, but she knew this was all done with and she’d be alone again.

 

For now, Hux had found the sheets she’d told him about in her hall closet and was settled on the sofa with her, oddly complacent with all of this. He knew he needed to leave soon, knew he needed to go back to his own apartment and see what he’d missed in the three days he’d been gone--that was probably going to be a hassle, which was annoying, but…

He buried his face in Rey’s hair, and it was worth every missed message and missed call to smell her, smell his scent on her, to feel her curled up against him like this.

 

“Thank you,” she murmured after a while. They’d eaten (he had no idea where she’d gotten these little frozen things and they were...childish, not filling and tasted cheap, but they were good enough for now) and she was nestled against him on the old couch, both of them still naked and tired.

He knew what she’d meant by it.

“Mm,” was all he gave in reply, stroking her sides and enjoying being able to scent her like this. Cuddling this way was almost alien to him by now but he didn’t want to let her go just yet.

“...Armitage?” Her voice was hesitant and soft, and he felt her grow a bit still, as if she were about to ask something important. He paused, shifting a little to gaze down at her face.

“What is it?”

 

There were so many things she wanted to say, so many things to ask or tell, but only one that was held on her tongue.

“Nothing,” she said finally. “It’s nothing.”

_Please stay._

  


He left that evening. The rain had let up enough to allow for it, and he had to go, had to get back to real life that was waiting outside of the nest they’d made in her house.

At least he’d waited until she’d woken up again.

 

She was lying on the sofa with the old TV she’d gotten cheap playing a music channel in the dark. Getting dressed had been a struggle, getting up from her had been worse. This...this was torturous.

“Armitage…” she mumbled drowsily, blinking slowly up at him as he leaned over her. _Please don’t go._

“I’ve got to go,” he lied. Nothing had ever felt less important than leaving her right now.

“Oh. All right,” she looked away, and his chest ached, but she likely wanted time to sleep.

“Goodnight, Rey,” he’d murmured against her forehead, stroking her hair. Rey didn’t let herself lean into his touch, didn’t let herself dwell on the thought that not once had he kissed her on the mouth through all of this, and refused to acknowledge that she wanted him to kiss her now, more than anything.

“Goodnight Armitage.”

  


Her door clicked shut, and Rey curled up into herself on the sofa, pulling the sheet around her and burying her face where she could smell him strongest.

God damn it.


	12. so let me show you

Rey was back to work two days later. Apparently the storm had done damage, but mostly it was superficial. Some downed street signs, a few broken windows in town.  
Rey’s house had fared about the same, but when she’d gone outside to appraise the damage when the rain finally let up again, she found that her back porch was a shambles. The roof had caved in in one corner and a few floorboards were cracked, and she’d need work done to repair it. Most of it she was sure she could work out herself, but…for some of it, she’d need help.

 

Going back to work felt strange. It always did after a ‘vacation’, even if she was hesitant to call that a proper vacation. Hux...Armitage...had left, and she hadn’t seen him since then. She’d realized, too, that she didn’t have his phone number either and so communicating was impossible unless she saw him at the coffeeshop, but even then…  
She didn’t know what to do about this. He’d left and she’d felt gutted about it, but then...wasn’t that just omega hormone bullshit? The whole ‘nesting’ process that she’d missed out on because her ‘mate’ (and she shivered a little at the term) hadn’t stayed. But that was just it--he _wasn’t_ her mate, and he’d had things to do, and the whole thing had been an accident in the first place. It wasn’t like he’d wanted to be there, trapped by a stupid omega who had made a mistake with her suppressants.

_“Shh,”_ he’d told her that night as the rain had pounded on her windows, _“Shhh. You don’t need to be sorry.”_ She could almost pretend he really meant it.

She wondered what he’d been thinking. What he was thinking now, if he was thinking of her at all. They’d been locked together by hormones, by a storm, by their own bodies for three days--and Rey...Rey could hardly remember all of it. Heat was a fucking mess; sometimes she was totally lucid and other times…  
She sighed that morning at the front counter, when the early rush had ended. She hadn’t been with an alpha in _years_ \--hadn’t been with _anybody_ in years, was she just getting...what, sentimental?  
Her mind wandered to that afternoon in his office, his hands beside her hips and their faces dangerously close.

Rey’s forehead hit the front counter loud enough to startle one of her coworkers and two businessmen sitting at a table nearby. What the fuck was going on in her life right now?  
To make things worse--or better? She wasn’t even sure anymore--he hadn’t even come in for coffee for the past two days, which brought it up to four days since she’d seen him last. Not that she was counting.  
He probably wasn’t even thinking about her. He was older than she was, she knew that much just by looking at him, and he was a _doctor_. She made coffee for people. This was not an ‘ideal’ match, and he could do better than a scrappy-looking omega like her.  
Still…

Rey thought of his lips brushing her skin the night he’d left, and she felt the same hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. She tried to fill it with coffee for the day.

 

 

That night she ended up leaving late. She’d taken an extra shift, she said because she needed some extra cash to pay someone to help her with repairs, but it was also in effort not to have to go back to her house knowing that she’d just tried to purge it of all of his scent (and her scent, and _their_ scent) and she’d be going back _alone_ , which suddenly was an entirely disenchanting prospect.

She didn’t make it far before she was stopped in her tracks a little ways down the street, meeting eyes with someone walking towards her on the sidewalk.

Rey’s breath hitched when she saw him, her traitor body deciding even if she didn’t want to say anything to seem so...eager...that it would do the work for her, but Armitage was the one who walked right up to her, allowing her enough personal space but bordering on being too close all the same.

“Hi,” Rey breathed out, trying to sound normal. He tossed his cigarette to the concrete and snubbed it out with his heel, eyes roaming over her in the streetlight glow.

“Rey,” he greeted her, a bit softer than she expected. His eyes were shaded thanks to their position in the light, but still seemed to glint at her in the dark. “How are you?”  
Her immediate thought was ‘not pregnant’ but she valiantly stopped herself from blurting that out if for no other reason than because she hadn’t actually gotten her period yet.

“I’m...I’m good,” she nodded after a moment, sighing the words out and managing a smile. “I’m good--back to work,” she gestured behind her, even if she was out of sight of Takodana by now. He nodded some, his eyes never leaving her.

“That’s good.”

“You haven’t been in for coffee,” she blurted out suddenly, and immediately felt like an idiot for it. He didn’t falter, however.

“I’ve been a bit busy, unfortunately. I had a good bit to catch up on after...the storm.” She knew what he’d been about to say and she looked down in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry,” she said finally, “About all of that.” He took a step closer to her, leaning over her and blocking the streetlight.

“I told you before, Rey,” he gave the slightest shake of his head, “I don’t expect you to be sorry.”

“...Shouldn’t I be?” She challenged, even halfheartedly. “That shouldn’t have happened, I...I fucked up, and you got stuck there with me…” Before she knew what was happening, he’d taken her chin in his hand, leaning his head down slightly to force her to look at him.

“If I’d wanted to leave, I could have.” Rey felt the air leave her lungs and her eyes widened slightly. His fingers felt somewhat cool on her skin in the warm night air and she took a small, shivery breath after a moment.

“Then why didn’t you?” If he was going to do this, then so was she. His thumb shifted over her jaw and Rey made herself hold his gaze. He liked this about her, her impetuousness, her so very un-omega way of behaving sometimes.

“I promised you safety, didn’t I?” Rey swallowed.

“Is that what that was?” His eyes studied hers.

“If that’s what you wanted.” He wondered if she could remember that night, the words he’d let out before he could stop himself. _“Anything you want,”_ the far more honest part of himself surfacing thanks to the rush of hormones they’d both been experiencing. Rey’s eyes never left his.

“What if it isn’t?” she asked, however, and he paused. “What if that isn’t what I wanted it to be?”

“Then you’ll have to be more specific.” For a moment there was a look in her eyes that made his insides _burn_ \--his fingers almost tightened around her chin but she didn’t move.

“It’s done with, either way,” she shrugged lightly, and he tilted his head up slightly.

“I suppose it is.” His voice lowered, “But for the future…” He felt Rey’s jaw shift under his fingers and moved just slightly closer, eyes drifting to her slightly-parted lips before he could stop himself.

 

 

“What can I ask for the future?” She asked softly, raising an eyebrow up at him, a smile playing on her mouth.

“Anything,” he answered honestly, his own mouth quirking up just slightly as he leaned over her, “Anything.”

“There is something I want,” she whispered without hesitation, and his brow went up some.

“Then ask.”

“You never kissed me,” she managed to get out, and he could see the color rising in her face, feel the heat in her skin. “Not once.” For a moment he was too startled to do much of anything but stare down at her, but once that faded his lips curved into a small smirk.

“I did. More than once, certainly,” And to prove his point, he leaned forward and brushed a kiss over her forehead, his free hand settling on her waist. Rey took a breath and when he leaned back again, she made a face and decided she just didn’t care about being shy anymore.

“You spent the better part of three whole days inside me, you can do better than that.”

“Ask me--” he replied almost immediately, his gaze almost more intense than she could stand, “Tell me what you want.” Rey’s voice was barely a whisper but it was steady and certain.

“Kiss me, Armitage.”

There was a split-second of silence that was so charged Rey felt her hair stand on end, and then his mouth was on hers.

 

It was quick at first--just their mouths pressed together as if only to placate her, but when Rey shifted her head and parted her lips against his, his arm wrapped around her waist and drug her up against his chest so that he could tip her back just slightly while holding her face.

Rey’s mouth was hot against his; she always seemed to be warm to the touch, and kissing her this way was like drinking in sunlight. His arm tightened around her as if afraid to loosen and let her flee, but her arms had wound around his neck and were cradling his head to hers just the same. His fingers left her chin and slid into her hair as her lips parted to his and he could _taste_ her--he’d known this would be the ruin of him and he’d been right.

Rey tasted like sunshine and summer, like fruit and like _warmth_ and she kissed him with the sweet softness of someone unaccustomed to this kind of touch but she _kissed_ him. His fingers curled into the fabric of her t-shirt and he wanted her, more of her, _all_ of her, anything she would give him--she kissed him like she meant it, she kissed him like a lover, and he had gone a very long time without knowing that sort of touch. She wanted him, this sweet little omega who he’d watched tear through an alpha twice her size. She wanted him.

She felt his hand grasp at her shirt and her whole body arched to meet his--she could smell him like this just as she had when they were tangled together in her sheets, and yet this was so much more intimate, somehow.  
It had been a long time since Rey had kissed anyone like this--she thought briefly of Kylo Ren, thought of his burning hot and demanding mouth, but this was not like that. Hux kissed her like she was the first drink of water to a man in the desert, like he was _starving_ for her. It was intense, it was intimidating, and it made her feel _powerful.  
_ He tasted like tobacco smoke and mint, crisp and smooth all at once, and there was something sweeter there that she couldn’t place. His skin felt cool but he smelled like warmth and _want_ and Rey let out the softest moan against his mouth, her fingers curling as best they could in the hair at the back of his head. He wanted her. She could smell it, she could feel it, she could _taste_ it--he wanted _her._

 

 

His arm tightened around her waist when he felt the vibration of her little moan on his tongue and when they pulled apart to breathe, it was barely a moment before they’d crashed together again. Rey’s arms tightened around his neck and Hux wound up guiding her backwards until she was pressed against the brick wall of the building they stood outside. Somehow she felt in control just then--there was no looming fear of an oncoming heat, there was no fear of losing her senses that way, only _hunger_ , the kind she was in control of, and from what she was smelling and sensing he was feeling the same thing.

He’d pinned her against the brick when he leaned back from her at last, breathing hard, his eyes glowing at her from the shadow their bodies created between them. Rey’s lips were pinkened and looked as tempting as any he’d ever seen and her eyes were glowing right back at him as she tried to catch her breath. He could feel her heart pounding against her ribs in his chest as she was pressed against him and he could smell her, that dizzying, intoxicating omega scent that was specific just to her. He wanted her, wanted her like this, when they were both in their right minds, both in control of themselves, he smelled it on her, saw it in her eyes, but this was too public and he needed to hear it from her, needed to know this was what she wanted.

“Rey,” He murmured, and as if anticipating his question Rey nodded quickly.

“Your place _has_ to be closer,” she breathed out, and she was right.

 

The run to his apartment was a blur; they hadn’t been too far to begin with and luckily there weren’t many people on the streets just then as it was.

His building was quiet and cool inside, and when Hux strode in, still clad in his slacks and button down shirt and tie from work with Rey, in jean shorts and a floral t-shirt, the few people in the lobby took notice, eyes following the two of them across the lobby floor and into the elevator.

The doors shut, and once they were sealed inside alone together Rey had pulled him down to her by his shirt once again. It was _addicting_ , kissing someone this way and being completely in control for once. She knew all of this was her own want and not just hormones getting the best of her and that was _bliss_ .  
Hux pressed her against the wall of the elevator and tipped her chin up to him, teeth grazing near her ear as he kissed her jaw.

“You said...that day in the practice, you said you were thankful I’d thought of you while you were gone,” he murmured against her skin, and she felt her heartbeat pick up, her breath hitching.

“I did,” she breathed out like a sigh, “I...I still am.” His lips brushed the shell of her ear and his nose buried in her hair.

“I don’t think I’ve stopped thinking about you since I met you.”

Rey’s hands grasped at his collar, at his hair, and she pulled him into a desperate kiss, unable to articulate what that one statement had made her feel. His knee slid between her legs and she felt fangs brush her lips, her tongue, and it made her shudder and groan. She wanted this, wanted him, wanted to know what this was like, having someone while she was completely herself, taking full control of her hunger and her want rather than letting it control her. She knew what his touch felt like, knew what his body felt like, but this time she wanted to be conscious of it all.  
This elevator was taking entirely too long.

  


They tumbled into his apartment in a tangle of limbs and heat, his blazer cast aside and their shoes kicked off just as quickly. Rey dropped her backpack at his doorway with her old sneakers, and he barely gave the the moment to get herself barefoot before he’d grabbed her by the waist again and practically spun her to face him, his free hand tangling in her hair and drawing her into another kiss.

The whole apartment smelled like him--like smoke, like mint, like something cool and crisp, like alpha, like _Armitage_ , and Rey held him by the collar of his shirt as he guided her over the smooth, cold floor and into his bedroom. They didn’t bother with lights, Rey thought idly she might have liked to see him better but his mouth was on her throat and his hands had found their way under her t-shirt and she didn’t mind so much either way.

She was quick to reach and shimmy out of her shorts, bobbing out of his reach momentarily and then letting him pull her shirt over her head to toss aside. Rey shivered at his hands on her bare waist and her fingers immediately went for the buttons on his shirt, but he stopped her.  
Rey blinked up at Hux in the dark, breathing hard and feeling the heat pooling between her legs. There was a light glow from the lights of the city outside the drawn blinds of his windows that was contouring his face and glinting in his eyes as he held her wrists, bringing her hands up so he could kiss her knuckles.

He was backing her up, and when her calves hit the side of his bed she felt her heart fluttering against her ribs, but still he didn’t let go of her hands. Instead, he took both her wrists in one hand and eased her onto her back until he was leant over her, propped up on one arm and ducking his head to kiss one of her palms.

“A-Armi...tage…” she breathed out, confused--she wanted to feel his skin on hers, she wanted to undress him and remove the remaining boundaries between them, and he….was looking at her in that way he did sometimes that made her skin prickle, made her feel very much omega and made her very conscious of the fact that he was still an alpha.

“Be still, omega,” he told her, and Rey shivered as he finally released her wrists. “Before you take your pleasure, let me take mine.” His eyes were on hers and he seemed to be commanding her...and yet asking her permission all at once. Rey slid her hands over the collar of his shirt and brushed the pads of her fingers over the scent glands on his neck, feeling the slightest tremor go through him. She nodded, swallowing, and watched him lean his head down to kiss the space between her breasts.

 

Slowly he moved down the line of her abdomen, trailing kisses punctuated with grazing teeth until her fingers could only slide through his hair. His hands framed her waist and ran down to her hips before gliding down and gently pushing her thighs further open, coaxing one of her legs up over his shoulder and lightly biting a line down the tender skin inside of her thigh. Rey shivered, sucking her lower lip between her teeth as she watched him, her chest heaving slightly. This was...this was not what she’d expected, and when his eyes flicked up to meet hers as he dipped his head between her legs to hover just over the thin fabric of her panties, Rey felt herself leaking arousal enough that she could smell it herself. Her face went red when she felt him inhale, but his fingers pressed into her thighs and his voice was low enough she _felt_ him speaking.

“You smell _perfect_ ,” he growled, and Rey’s eyes widened slightly, a little whimper slipping out of her mouth. _Perfect._ The alpha thought she smelled _perfect—_ but Rey realized just after she thought it that her mind hadn’t called him ‘the alpha’, it called him _Armitage_. “I’ve wanted to taste you since I laid eyes on you, you know that?”

Taste her? Rey’s mind swam and she felt her breathing shallow out. She could feel his breath on her, could feel the low vibration of his voice on her pussy and it made her gasp softly against her teeth. He didn’t wait for more of an answer, and lowered his face to press his mouth against the soft cotton of her panties, kissing the thin fabric once, almost _chaste_ , before parting his lips and kissing there again.  
Rey shuddered at the strange sensation--his skin had been cool to touch but his mouth was _hot_ , and the heat she could feel through the fabric combined with the shift and rub against her pussy was making her breath catch in her throat.  
His mouth moved lower, and Rey’s eyes widened.

The brush of his teeth and light _suck_ she felt over her clit through the fabric made her gasp loud and sharp and she quickly propped herself up on her elbows, watching him watch her, a mixture of curious, excited, and embarrassed—but his eyes fixed on hers as he drew a line up along her folds through her panties, and Rey shuddered, fisted her hands in his comforter, and bit out a groan, wondering if the embarrassment she was feeling was really even worth it. Armitage looked up at her and Rey felt her skin tingle, uncertain but wanting more; this felt strange but so good, and it didn’t seem like something an alpha should do for an omega—

As if on cue, Hux pulled away and reached up towards her, coaxing her closer until he could hold his wrist—the scent gland near his wrist, really—up to her nose. Rey was startled but then understood, breathing in and feeling her heart pound from the scent of alpha musk and….  
She felt the heat rise to her face and her stomach tense, and Hux watched her pupils go even wider in the dark, her little chest heaving as her pulse quickened.  
  
He smelled _excited—_ excited, and pleased, and eager, and he _wanted_ her, and Hux could smell how much this surprised and pleased Rey in turn. He reached forward and ran his fingers over the underside of her jaw before situating himself between her legs again, watching her settle back onto her arms again.

“If you want this to end, I need you to tell me.” Rey blinked, staring at him, but he’d paused, retracting his hand from her face and letting her decide.

“No--” she shook her head quickly, taking a hurried breath and a bit timidly hooking her legs over his shoulders. She made her voice as confident as she could manage with his face between her thighs, “No, please--please don’t stop.”

 

His hands roamed up over her sides and down to palm her ass as he toyed with her through her panties a little more; Rey was groaning and breathing hard watching him drag his tongue up over her and very lightly teasing his teeth over her clit, her body burning up at the thought of how it would feel once there was nothing between her and his mouth anymore. There was a very rapidly-growing wet stain by the time he hooked his thumbs under the waistband on her hips and pulled the flimsy garment off her legs. Rey settled further back on her arms and felt her heart fluttering in her chest at the expression on his face when he settled onto the blanket again, her soaked cunt bared to him now.

He was practically drunk on her already and he hadn’t even touched her properly yet, and now like this he could see how wet she was already, soft curls drenched where they’d been sticking to her panties. He tucked her legs over his shoulders and hooked his arms around her thighs as he leaned close to her again, watching her expression as his lips pressed to her mound and then slid down.

Rey jolted at the sudden _heat_ of it--her cunt was already fever-hot but when his tongue touched her she gasped out and her spine arched at how near-blinding the heat felt. She hadn’t been prepared for this, how white-hot and consuming the feeling was, and her chest heaved in the thin bra she was still confined in as she tossed her head back against the mattress, grasping at the blanket as Hux’s tongue laved over her and coaxed even more arousal out of her quivering body. She felt his lips brushing her too-soft as his tongue probed her folds and let out a long, high whine, writhing on the bed and struggling to keep still--though his hands on her thighs were preventing her from wriggling out of his grasp.

“Oh--oh _god_ ,” Rey groaned, her toes curling into the back of his shirt and hips bucking slightly as his tongue swirled around her clit and his fingers fanned out over her hip bones. In response, he made a sort of low hum in his throat and Rey arched off the blanket again, letting out a little whimper and reaching to wind her fingers into his hair.

His eyes were on her when she looked down again, panting for breath and holding his head by near fistfuls of his hair, and Rey’s jaw went slack, her thighs trembling slightly around his shoulders. He was watching her in the dim light, pale eyes glinting back at her, and she sucked in a shivery breath, gazing back at him: he was drinking her in like she was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted and looking up at her like she had the moon in her eyes.  
Unbeknownst to Rey, she was right.

 

It wasn’t long before Hux had her hips rocking against his mouth and her fingers tugging almost too-hard at his hair, her whining and keening getting louder and fading in and out of strings of _‘yes, yes, yes’_ and _‘please, please, please,’_ and a chorus of his name, over and over, gasped out again and again like the very breaths she was taking.  
It was _good_ , as good as her fingers wound tight in his hair, her thighs starting to shake around his shoulders, her feet that had managed to loose his shirt from his pants, as good as she _tasted_.

God, she was beautiful. Her back arched and he watched her body thrash and twist on his bed, her neck craning and arms straining as her slender hands grasped his hair. This was what _he_ was doing to her, this was something she had privileged _him_ to give her, to witness. His tongue found places that made her keen and whimper, made her hips jolt against him and her legs shake around his head, and he felt proud of it, knowing she’d allowed him to do this.

“ _Armitage_ ,” She moaned out, breathy and fluttering, “G-god, fuck, that’s so good-- _Armitage_ \--!”

Rey said his name as if it tasted even half as good as she did on her tongue, and to him, that was more than enough. He sucked at her clit and thrust shallow into her with his tongue and Rey was _singing_ for him, riding his face and gasping each breath out as she chased her release, begging him with her whole body to grant it to her.

 

“Armi--aaahhn--please--I’m so clos--” she cut herself off with a sudden yip of a squeal, feeling the slightest brush of teeth and a deep, low _hum_ against her pussy, and Rey ground her cunt against his mouth and nearly screamed with how close she was, desperate to finally relieve the aching pressure that had been building up in her belly, and finally one of his thumbs ran further in between her thighs to slide back the little hood of her clit so that he could hum against her again and drag his tongue flat up over her and _oh--_ she _swore_ the texture of it had changed.

Rey _shrieked_ , bucking against his hold and coating his chin when she came, gasping for breath when she fell back to the mattress and finally releasing his hair. She reached over her head and grasped at one of the pillows nearby, riding out her orgasm as he lapped every last drop of it up and kissed the inside of her thigh again, stroking her legs and leaning up over her shivering body to watch her jolt and writhe and try to catch her breath.

 

She was _breathtaking_ \--he hadn’t been able to look away from her face as he’d eaten her pussy and that had already been enough to nearly have him finishing in his pants, but this…  
Rey had thrashed a time or two on his mattress and her face was partially buried in one of his pillows. She was sweat-damp and her skin was fevered and he could see stray strands of hair sticking to her face and her neck where it had come loose from the knot she kept it in for work. He’d felt it, he could _smell_ it, now--she’d come harder than she’d expected, harder than her body was used to outside of a heat, and he leaned down to take her face in his hand, turning her head so he could kiss her again.

Rey was struggling to catch her breath and god her body felt like it was burning and floating and tingling all at once and she’d buried her face into one of his pillows and all she could smell now was _him_ and this was _bliss_ . She’d never come that hard before, not like this, not outside of a heat and not just from someone’s _mouth._ She hadn’t even known that was _possible_ , and then he was turning her face to him and kissing her and she could taste herself on his tongue but it was delicious in how dirty it seemed to her. He kissed her with the same mouth that had just coaxed an almost painful orgasm out of her and Rey groaned against his lips, wrapping shivery arms around his neck and pulling him down to her so that he had to shift onto his side so he wasn’t smothering her. Like this, she could smell him, too: he was aroused, he was excited, and he was _pleased_ , and Rey shivered in his arms at that. He was so pleased she could smell it rolling off of him, and he’d gotten _her_ off.

She rolled over to pin him a moment later, however, leaning over him on the comforter and watching the surprise on his face. Her fingers trailed down from his collar along the line of buttons on his shirt and she took a little breath, holding his gaze as she quickly unfastened every button she could manage, settled back on her knees over his hips.

She could feel the tent in his pants against her ass and shifted against his waist, a bit more careful when she brushed her already-tender pussy against his belt buckle and jerked unceremoniously against him. His hands were on her thighs until she managed to get his shirt open, and then he lurched forward and caught her mouth in a hungry kiss as he slid his arms out of his button-down and tugged his undershirt up over his head. Rey took the break in contact to shift down between his legs and unfasten her bra, tossing it aside and tucking her loosened hair behind her ear as she leaned in over his hips.

She felt nervous—not about what they were doing, this wasn’t new to her, but about how bold she was acting. Did he like this? Did he care if she took charge at all, did he want her to do these extra things instead of simply getting straight to it?  
Part of her didn’t care. She was in control of her body and her actions and her libido right now, and that felt _good.  
_ She flicked her eyes up to meet his as she leaned her head down to kiss his belt buckle where her cunt had leaked onto it.

Hux stared at her, reaching down with a light, reverent hand to stroke her hair. Rey leaned into his touch as she reached up to unfasten his belt and then his pants, her slim fingers trembling slightly in anticipation. She’d sucked her lip between her teeth as she gazed up at him, turning her head to coax his hand closer so she could hold his gaze and slowly took his thumb into her mouth.

Hux _groaned_ —his fingers curved around her chin and, encouraged, she curled her tongue around his thumb, sucking lightly as she slowly, carefully, freed his cock from his underwear.  
She was…actually uncertain about this, now. The truth was she hadn’t...ever...given a man head--not successfully, anyways, and not in a setting like this. She was doubtful about how good she’d be, which was enough to join with her general insecurity about her sexual prowess overall, and he seemed to either notice that or sense it or _something_ , because he pulled his hand away from her, lightly trailing a thread of saliva from her tongue until it snapped, and pulled her up closer to him, away from his straining erection and over his torso to kiss her.

 

Rey maneuvered herself away a bit as he got out of his pants and underwear and then let her pin him down again, her legs moving to straddle his thighs before she broke another kiss and sat back on his legs. She shifted forward until his cock pressed against her skin and she could reach down to run her hand down over his length, feeling him coat her hand as she stroked him, his hips very lightly rolling up against her. There was an expression on his face she’d never seen before as she gazed down at him, one hand holding his cock against her while the other moved so she could prop herself up against his legs, holding his gaze as she slowly rocked her hips against him. She could see his jaw tighten, could see the flutter of muscles tensing through his body as he fought to maintain some kind of control, but the look in his eyes was wild and intense and _hungry_. Rey bit her lip and rolled her hips against him again, feeling his arousal mix with hers and smear over her legs and his, slicking her fingers and her belly.

Hux rocked back against her hand, face betraying the tension he was feeling. This alpha was beneath her and rutting up against her like he was begging her and when he tried to sit up, Rey stopped moving entirely, and then so did he. His eyes were almost frenzied, questioning, and Rey took a shaky breath.

“No, wait--I-I...I want to be on top,” she got out, her voice breathless and hesitant, but the look on his face made her pussy clench as he settled back again, letting her do as she wanted. His hands found her hips and his fingers pressed into her skin lightly as he watched her take another deep breath and tuck her hair over her shoulder--by now it had come loose completely and she didn’t care to look for the hair tie she’d had in it.

“Rey...” he breathed, still fighting to keep that control of himself, fingers pressing harder into her skin. There was an unspoken plea on his lips and Rey took another little breath before shifting her hips and guiding his slick cock up against her folds, hips rolling until they found what they were after and she slowly sunk down onto him.

Her taking even just the tip made his head roll back against the pillows for a moment, hands gripping her thighs as he fought to keep in control, keep himself from pulling her further onto him. Her cunt was white-hot and tight around him and now she was watching _him_ in the same way he’d been watching her, and it made his skin prickle. He was the alpha here; if he wanted to assert dominance right now, he could have her on her stomach under him in a moment--but she took his cock deeper and her back arched, her chin touching her collar as she kept her eyes on him, and he let her continue, let her pin him with her hips, let her take her time and control the act, and that was good enough on its own.  
Rey wanted this, Rey wanted to enjoy this, Rey wanted _him_. That was enough to keep him beneath her.

 

She’d gotten him deep enough that she could lean back on her arms and start to move her hips on her own. Slowly, she coaxed his cock deeper into her until she was nearly seated on him completely and Rey shivered and groaned as she adjusted and relaxed a bit more, and under her, Hux could only stare up at her with adoring, coveting, _starving_ eyes, letting her set the pace. It was maddening, having to take things this slow when all he wanted was to feel her--around him, under him, over him--to hear her crying out and know her body was telling him how good he was making her feel...but Rey was in no such hurry.

Her eyes met his again and she sucked in a shivery little breath, her thighs trembling slightly as she eased her pussy just a little further down onto him and groaned, low and deep, her eyes fluttering shut. He bit in a growl, grasping at her hips, watching her through near-shut eyes himself. After a moment she slowly started moving again, however, and he was back to being enraptured at how her body moved and how absolutely taken with her he was.  
Rey’s thrusts were shallow until she felt a bit more comfortable, and then she took him nearly all the way in before almost sliding off of him again entirely.

“God, _Rey_ …” He exhaled at last, one hand sliding up the line of her torso but stopping short of touching her chest, eyes looking to hers, asking her permission. Rey bit her lip and took his wrist with a shaky hand, slowly moving his hand up over her breast, and his fingers pressed into the soft, pliant skin there, kneading around her nipple and making her groan against her teeth when he took the rosy little nub between his fingers and tugged lightly.

Her hips were rocking in fluid movements and she was holding herself up on one hand while the other had tried to gather her hair up to keep it out of her way some--but Hux took her hand, leaning up to kiss her palm as she rode him, her cunt taking him deeper on that stroke than she had before.

“Fuck,” He growled against her palm, fingers curling around her wrist and holding her hand to his face, “You feel so good, Rey,” he felt his heartbeat quickening as he watched her, “You feel so good like this, summer girl.” Rey inhaled sharply, eyes flickering wide for a brief moment. _Summer girl_. She felt heat rise to her face, remembering a conversation at Takodana that seemed to have happened a lifetime ago. Her fingers cupped his face and she swallowed, licking her lips slowly as she watched him. His hips had started slowly rocking up to meet hers, and she picked up the pace of her thrusts, feeling that familiar pressure coiling in her belly with each stroke.

“Do you,” she gasped out, her confidence building some from the effect this was all having on him, “Do you li-like this?” _Do you like_ **_me_ ** _?_ Her subconscious was still wholly omega and he was, still, an alpha, even as she was the one riding him. "Is this...is this good?" _Is this good, is this good enough?_

“ _Yes_ ,” he growled, teeth teasing at her palm and making her shiver, “ _Yes,_ little omega. This is _very good._ ” He sounded so fiercely sincere that it made a shudder roll through her and her hips buck against his cock suddenly when he brushed something _very good_ inside of her. Rey hunched forward, breathing hard, and when she brushed against the same spot again, she planted one of her hands on the mattress beside his torso and started bouncing her hips against his much more quickly, trying to find that place again and grinding her pussy hard against it when she did. Hux didn’t pull her down to him, much as he wanted to--he let her stay above him, let her stay in control, and only ran his hand up over her arm while releasing her wrist so he could stroke the side of her face.

 

Her hair was falling over her shoulders like this, lose and sticking to her sweat-slick skin in some places. Rey was the one in charge here, she was the one controlling her own orgasm, even if he was party to it. That was what she wanted, and he was happy to let her draw her pleasure from him but she seemed to be having some amount of difficulty and he wanted to give her the release she was after. He rocked up against her when she rubbed against that sweet spot, and she whined for him, tossing her hair.

“Nnngh--A-Armitage…” She moaned, her eyes screwing shut briefly, and he groaned, low and guttural and needy.

“Tell me what you want,” he pleaded with her, wanting to please her, “Tell me what you want, summer girl. _Please._ ” Rey shook her head, face screwing up slightly as she continued to thrust her hips.

“You,” she gasped out, “I want you, I want _you_ \--I want to _come_ , god, so much…” it all tumbled out in a jumble of gasping breaths and half-audible words. His hand ran fingers into her hair.

“Do you want me to touch you?” he sounded hurried, and Rey finally nodded, rushed and rocking her hips against him erratically. She’d wanted to be in control here but her body was aching and she still wasn’t nearly as experienced with this and…He let her stay on top of him. Hux’s hand slid down and cupped her head, thumb rubbing just behind her ear as his opposite hand slipped to rub its thumb over her clit. Rey jerked in shock and gasped at the sudden sensation-- _he was rubbing her ear--_ **_nobody_ ** _rubbed her ears--_

“O-ohh--that’s--y- _yes…_ ” She moaned and leaned into his touch, and he rubbed harder, deliberate circles into her scalp, hips thrusting against hers in an effort to help himself along with her. It wasn’t taking much, not with the way she was reacting to everything. Her cunt clenched around him and he growled against his teeth, his hips roughly bucking up against hers suddenly in response.

 

The jolt seated her all the way onto his hips, and she saw stars with the sudden feeling of her ass hitting his thighs and him completely seated inside her, and that in combination with his rubbing thumbs…  
Rey hunched forward and her head bowed, her hands raking half-shifted claws over his chest--and it hurt, but feeling her spasm and clench around him as she came made the pain _delicious._ This was the same and still so different than sex with Ren; Rey shuddered and whimpered and rolled her hips against his cock to ride out her climax, her hair trailing over his shoulder and down his chest as she leaned over him. She was soft even when she was attempting to be dominant, and he knew he would gladly submit to her if that were what she wanted, knew he would let her completely possess him and would thank her for letting him belong to her--

“F-fuck, _Armitage_ …” Rey groaned out, her mouth near his throat as she’d let herself rest against his chest, burying her face against his shoulder, her mouth open against his skin and grazing teeth against him. This, finally, sent him over--his hands found her hips and he thrust into her a few quick, hard times before actually letting out a low cry and spilling into her. Rey gasped and grasped at him, whimpering at how rough he’d rammed into her but when he came, she came again with him, squealing and writhing against him as she _gushed_ around his cock.

She’d collapsed against him, breathing hard against his neck as he ran his hands over her soft ass and down the backs of her thighs. This was the kind of intimacy he’d been craving--Rey smelled soft and sweet and _omega_ , mixed with the heady musk of sex and his own scent that she was spreading onto herself by now--but Rey...Rey was not his, and he was not hers, and this was a situation he hadn’t accounted for, and she would be gone again soon enough.

  


This wasn’t heat, wasn’t rut, and there was no knot holding them together once he’d come, but she didn’t move and neither did he for a long while. Instead, he lay there under her and resisted the urge to scent her, to rub his face against her hair and against her skin, to take her face and ensure she smelled like she belonged to him even once she’d gone. Rey’s breathing was slowly going back to normal and she nuzzled at his skin slightly, still blissful from her orgasm and feeling affectionate--though she realized that could just be because her nose was full of alpha smell, and even more it was the same alpha smell that she’d been _covered_ in during her last heat.

Not for the first time, she was struck with the troubling thought that this could all just be hormones. Was she here because of hormones, was she in his arms, in his bed, because he’d been in hers not quite a week ago? Because he smelled, to her, like release and...and _safety_?

Or was this because she actually did like him?

Either way, she hadn’t ever felt this good during or after sex, and lying here with him, feeling his slender hands rubbing up over her thighs and hips to her back, she didn’t want to move.

Hux felt sticky and warm like this, and normally he’d have been quick to disentangle himself to go and shower but right now his hands couldn’t leave her skin and this was, after all, because of her--the only omega in this town, the only omega he’d been with in _years_ , and she’d...made the decision, both times they’d fucked now, that she wanted him. She’d been the one to tell him she wanted that, wanted to be with him, both occasions. The first, he’d been ready to discount thanks to biology; she’d been in _heat_ , for fuck’s sake, she’d been desperately trying to finger herself on her back porch in a hurricane when he’d found her, that seemed to lend to _anybody_ being agreeable to help.  
But tonight...tonight, she’d been within her senses. Tonight they’d both been completely sober and in their right minds, and Rey had still told him, using his name, that she wanted him. He didn’t know what that meant, but it apparently left them here, like this, with her laid out on his chest and his cock just beginning to slip out of her.

“I...had no idea things could be like that,” Rey was the one to break the silence, murmuring against his shoulder. Hux blinked.

“What?” His brow knit slightly and he shifted just a bit to look down at her head, brown hair tousled and obscuring her face where she was resting against him.

“This….this wasn’t a heat,” she mumbled awkwardly, “We weren’t...you didn’t...knot. And I wasn’t...not...in control.” Hux blinked again, digesting this.

“Rey...have you had sex outside of heat before?”

He felt her burrow against him and his chest seemed to tighten and ache. She--she’d never…

 

“Not...not really.”

 

His eyes widened and he could smell how embarrassed she was to admit this, could feel the heat on her face against his skin. She’d never done this--she’d never had sex like this, where she was fully in control and not in a hormone-induced haze--and she’d…  
He reached to stroke the hair away from her face, coaxing her to turn her head so he could see her face. Even in the dim light he could see her almost perfectly, shifting on the bed so he could face her better and stroking his thumb over her cheek before lowering his head.

“Sweet summer girl…” he murmured against her lips, hand sliding to cradle her head as he kissed her. _She’d chosen him._

  
  


It was when Rey was padding back to the bed from his bathroom some hours later that she saw Hux set his cell phone aside on his bedside table. He sighed as she climbed back into the sheets with him, leaning in to nuzzle at his jaw and settle in against him.

“You smell annoyed,” she noted with a hint of worry in her voice, but he stroked her hair and shook his head.

“Not with you. Certainly not with you.” Rey propped herself up over him on her hands, hair slipping over her shoulder as she looked down at him, his hands framing her forearms.

“What’s the matter, then?” He sighed, rubbing her arms slowly.

“Seems I’m leaving tomorrow.” He said this like it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience, and Rey paused.

“Leaving?”

“For a week, maybe a bit longer.” She frowned slightly. He’d be gone on the full moon, then. He didn’t seem that bothered by it, however, and she started to feel like her concerns were her emotionally overstepping. She leaned back away and settled on her back next to him now.

“Oh. That’s...not too bad--” He shifted so he could run a hand into her hair and turn her head to face him on the pillow.

“You’re not good at hiding your emotions,” he chided softly, though it didn’t escape him that she only seemed vaguely disappointed and maybe irritated by her scent.

“You’ll be gone on the full moon,” she sighed. His brow went up slightly.

“Is that what you’re upset about?”

“I’m not upset--”

“--Mm, you are--”

“--I’m just…disappointed. That’s all.” He smiled as she turned up her nose slightly and glanced away. She was so different from everyone he’d ever allowed in like this and he wondered if maybe that was why he felt this drawn to her.

“You know there’s a moon every single month…” She tried to stay at least petulant, but seeing him smile broke her resolve.

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” she yawned softly, and looked up at him carefully. Her voice got softer, quieter. “Do I need to leave?” Hux shook his head, taking her chin in his hand and kissing her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“No.”

  
  


In the end, she did leave before he woke up. It was awful, pulling herself away from him like that--the bed smelled like _them_ and he smelled like alpha, just as she remembered, the same smell she’d kept her face buried in on that spare sheet until it had faded some days later when she’d luckily already been out of her nesting. She dressed in the dark and ended up having to just shove her panties into her backpack in the end (they were a _mess_ , and when she’d tried to pull them back on she’d ended up just shuddering at how awful they felt, imagining a trip home in them) but before she could leave she stopped.

Rey found a pen on his nightstand and a scrap of paper from work in her backpack, and scribbled a note to leave under his phone. She had to work in a few hours, needed a shower (or three) and knew if she didn’t leave now, she wouldn’t want to leave later. And really...she didn’t want him to be the one leaving her again.  
She was hurrying out when something caught her eye on the floor, and in a split-second decision she reached, snatched it up, and left.

 

Hux hadn’t been so deep asleep that he hadn’t heard her leave. He’d assumed she might stay, but if she was leaving then he wouldn’t stop her. Still, when she’d stopped and written something down, that had surprised him. The minute he heard his door click shut again, he stretched some and rolled over to find what she’d left.

It was a note, scrawled in scratchy handwriting. His lips quirked up at where he could see she scribbled out the word ‘thank’ that she’d started to write, and so all there was was a phone number and her name with a little heart beside it.  
Hux snorted quietly and set the note back down with his phone, but then a moment later picked his phone up and put her number in anyways.

  


Later on while Rey was getting dressed for work she got a text from an unknown number, and grinned when she read it.

 

 

Did you by any chance take the only tie I had laying on my floor this morning? -- H  
  
**Read** 9:45 AM

 

Rey couldn’t stop the smile spreading over her face, and immediately saved the number before sending a picture of the tie in question on her bed.

 

(Hot Beverage )(Snowflake )(Blue Heart )  
  
Did you by any chance take the only tie I had laying on my floor this morning? -- H  
  
[](https://78.media.tumblr.com/67e0f5966d894c082820f3a3b8b5e3f1/tumblr_pfbsb62iqm1x74xm6o1_500.png)  
  
oops must have grabbed it (Eyes )  
  
sry it was dark (Smiling Face With Open Mouth And Cold Sweat )  


She bit her lip, taking a little breath before sending:

 

u can come get it when you get back (Face Throwing A Kiss )  


 

She locked her phone as if that would somehow save her from any embarrassment and shoved it in her pocket, grabbing her backpack and heading out for work.  
She saw the reply when she got to Takodana, greeting the others as she walked inside with a yawn.

 

 

I'll see you then.  


Work went by quicker than she expected, especially with it being a slow day. She’d cleaned the dining room twice and even snuck some time in to play Pokemon behind the counter and then before she knew it she was leaving for the day.  
Phone in her hand she was heading down the street and scrolling through a line of construction tutorials on YouTube when a familiar scent hit her nose and her head snapped up.

 

He’d shaved; he looked so much younger with a bare face like this but she could also see how far down his scar went. Right now he looked like he had when he’d left: a pair of jeans and an old, worn and faded red t-shirt. He smiled when he saw her, barely sparing a glance to traffic before running across the street.

“Rey!” Kylo Ren almost sounded relieved, jogging up to her on the sidewalk. Rey took a quick little breath, literally able to feel how glad he was to see her.  
Like he hadn’t been gone for almost a month. Like he hadn’t all but brushed her off the last time they’d even talked. He smiled down at her, though, and Rey couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hi,” she breathed, brow raising slightly, “You’re back.” He nodded, raking a hand through his hair.

“Got back this morning. I was gonna stop for coffee, but…” She shook her head, her smile widening.

“Well don’t let me stop you.” He tilted his head slightly.

“You’re the reason I wanted to in the first place.” Rey went a bit still, eyes widening slightly.

“Well…” she took a breath, “Here I am.” He nodded.

“I’m...I’m glad I ran into you. Are you...Are you doing okay?” He sounded awkward now, like he hadn’t thought conversation through this far. Rey nodded.

“I’m good. I’m good...same as always.” He nodded, glancing away a little before turning back to her again.

“That storm--was everything okay? Is your place all right?” Rey took a deep breath and sighed the reply out.

“Well, the storm itself wasn’t….awful…” she was lying through her teeth, she couldn’t remember any of it, “But I wound up with a fucked up back porch, so I’m having to figure out how to get that fixed up before the roof caves in.” Kylo’s eyes widened.

“Shit.” Rey nodded, and then he hesitated, but spoke up, “You need help?” Rey blinked up at him.

“I mean I can’t...I can do a lot of it myself, but…”

“Look, I...can get you some materials if you need them, and if there’s one thing I can do it’s fix shit like this. I’m a builder. Let me help you out.” Rey’s eyes searched his face for a moment before she nodded.

 

“That would...be amazing, if you could.” His face split into a grin and Rey smiled back--god how was he this infectious?--and he shrugged lightly.

“You have anything going on right now? I could come see what needs to get done, we could get started tonight, even.” Rey looked up at him in surprise.

“Really? You’re not busy?” He shook his head.

“Got a few days before I’m on the next project. Nothing until after the moon.” He gave her a lopsided grin, “We could probably finish this up before then, even.” Rey worried at the inside of her mouth and nodded.

“Then yeah--yeah, that’s...sure.” She nodded for him to follow, “I’m not too far out of town.”  


 

‘Not too far’ was a hike through town and then out through the woods down her long ‘driveway’ while Rey showed him how to play Pokemon on her phone.

“So what the fuck are these things?”  
  
“They’re pokemon! They’re like….pets, or something. You can fight with them. It’s cute.”

“You make these things fight?” He was currently trying to catch an Oddish and failing miserably. Rey snorted.

“I mean this one I’d evolve--”

“Why the fuck does it keep moving around!”

“If you throw my phone I’m gonna be really pissed--it’s just a game oh my god--”

“Oh shit--hey look it went in the ball--” Rey laughed at how excited he looked about this and nodded, taking her phone back.

“Aww, it’s a little baby one--look, it’s only got 240 CP….” She grinned, letting him watch as she renamed the little thing ‘Kylo Ren’.

“Hey!” Rey just laughed, putting her phone in her pocket, and Kylo laughed with her. Somehow it was easy to laugh with him--it was easy to just get along with him, weirdly enough, and walking with him now felt like he hadn’t been gone at all, like they were...like they were actually friends, or…she told herself not to think of the alternative.

 

He had not expected her house to look like it did, and yet somehow it suited her. Kylo’s brow went up as they neared the old home, and Rey led him through her yard and around to the back.

“Home sweet home,” she called over her shoulder, and he looked the place over as they went. She’d clearly done some repairs on the house herself, he assumed--there was new paint, and some of the windows were new, too. From the look of it she’d even patched the chimney in two or three places.

“You do this work by yourself?” He asked, jabbing a thumb. She nodded.

“I mean I can do _some_ things on my own…” She grinned, and he nodded, grinning back. He’d missed her. Not that they were close to begin with, but he’d missed her, somehow.

“It looks good.” His eyes found the caved-in section of her roof and his brow shot up. “That does not look good, though.” Rey nodded, sighing.

“Right? Fucked my floorboards up too, and this wood was already old.” Kylo nodded, trailing around to the most damaged side of the porch.

“Honestly…” he inspected the old, worn wood of the column that had sunken in, “This looks pretty old, like you said.” He took a minute to carefully climb up onto the porch, testing the boards with his feet before stepping any further to look at the cracked and missing panels. Finally he turned to her again.

“This is up to you, but...I could seriously get this porch redone in a few days flat if you want to fix the whole thing.” Rey blinked.

“The whole--the whole thing?” She looked incredulous and he shrugged.

“Yeah, sure. This wood’s just gonna give you problems in the future unless you replace all of it anyways.” That wasn’t _entirely_ true, but as he was looking everything over he figured this was a fairly small space anyways, he had time on his hands, and more than that he wanted to do this for her. Rey frowned a little.

“That’s...gonna cost a lot.” He glanced at her and shrugged again.

“I have plenty of shit laying around I can get a good price on. There’s probably enough lumber left from the last job that they’re just gonna scrap or recycle anyways.” Rey stared at him.

 

“You really would take the time to do this?” He nodded.

“Sure. You need the help.”

“I’m--I’m going to pay you for it, you know.” She warned him, and he snorted, grinning.

“Sure, fine. Whatever you want, Sunshine.” Rey’s face went a bit pink in the mid-afternoon sun and Kylo hopped back down from the porch. “I can head over and grab some of my tools now, and see what’s leftover from that build.” Rey nodded some.

“I’ve got things measured already.”

“Good. We can start the fun part when I get back, then.” Rey raised an eyebrow.

“The fun part?” He grinned.

“Tearing all this old shit out.” Rey was….a lot more into the look on his face when he said this than she wanted to admit, but she was also _tired._

“Hang on--listen, how about this: come back in the morning, and we can get started before it gets too hot. I’m off tomorrow, too.” He raised an eyebrow.

“You okay?” She shrugged, offering a smile.

“Didn’t get a ton of sleep last night,” _Why--what the fuck why not just tell him--_ “So I think I’m gonna rest up today and then tomorrow we can knock all of this shit the fuck out.” He smiled, nodding.

“All right, that sounds like a plan. How early?” Rey grinned.

“How about eight or nine?” Kylo made a face and she snorted with laughter. “Oh come on that’s not that early!”

“Fine, fine,” he waved her off, pulling his phone out, “I’ll set an alarm and everything.” Rey watched him fiddle with it for a minute and then thrust her hand out.

 

“Hey, let me see your phone.” Kylo looked uncertain but Rey snatched it before he could stop her, backing up a step. Quickly, she typed something in while he tried to swipe it back.

“Rey--hey--!” She laughed, wiggling out of his reach, but then she handed it back to him.

“There! God, I wasn’t _snooping_ , you maniac!” He looked a little embarrassed at this but pocketed the phone again.

“Right--right...so...in the morning.” Rey nodded, smiling.

“See you in the morning.”

  


Kylo was back at his apartment that evening, lying on his sofa with a beer and some reality show on TV when his phone buzzed on the table. His face split into a broad grin when he saw the messages, knowing immediately who they were from. So that’s what she’d done earlier.

 

sunshine (High Brightness Symbol ≊ Bright Button)(Sparkles )  
  
u better wake up in the AM!!!  
  
or else im gonna wreck all this shit by myself!!!  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .....s-so kylo's back....? ; w;


End file.
